SB 221 
.P25 




^^M 






11 III i!' 

111 

ill r 



i II 'i 



I! 






lilllllf' 

i 1 i 'P i! 



i 






iiiiHi 



ifiiii 

if 



immm\i\ 




MM 



PiilPliiiiliiiiiiii'' 
i 





Class S1 3S,?,t 



CopightW, 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSir. 



SUGAR BEET SEED 

History and Development 



BY 

TRUMAN G. PALMER 

Author of "Sugar at a Glance," "Beet Sugar Industry 
IN THE United States," "Concerning Sugar," etc. 

Since iqo2 Executive Secretary A^nericau Beet Stcgar Ass' u; 

U. S. Beet Sugar Industry; U. S. Sugar Manufacturers' 

Association; Fellow of Royal Statistical Society , Londo7i; 

Member Societe Technique et Chiniique de Sucrerie de 

Belgique, Brussels; Academy of Political Science ; 

National Ijistitute of Social Sciences; A inerican. 

Society of Folitical and Social Science^ etc., etc. 



FIRST EDITION 



NEW YORK 

JOHN WILEY & SONS, Inc. 

London: CHAPMAN & HALL Limited 

1918 



^'^'^i 

-f^ 



6 



Copyright, 1918 

BY 

TRUMAN G. PALMER 



il 



PRES9 OF 

BRAUNWORTH & CO. 

BOOK MANUFACTURERS 

BROOKLYN. N. Y. 

APR -6 1918 
©CI.A494491 



PREFACE 



Perhaps the greatest achievement in plant breed- 
ing has been reached by those scientists who have \ 
directed their study and appHed their knowledge to the 
amelioration of the sugar beet. 

The main object sought in breeding sugar-beet seed 
has differed from the objects sought in the development 
of other seeds, in that neither the appearance nor the 
flavor of the resultant plant or fruit has been the ob- 
jective; even the increase in size has been of minor 
importance. The main quest of the scientists who have 
given their life studies to the amelioration of the beet, 
has been to change the ratio of its chemical constitu- 
ents by eliminating a portion of its other substances 
and replacing them with sugar. 

At the time the beet-sugar industry was established 
in France by Napoleon Bonaparte, sugar was selling 
at 30 cents per pound, but with the entrance of the 
temperate zone as a competitor with the tropics in 
the production of sugar, the price of that product began 



IV PREFACE 

to decline and a lower cost of production became im- 
perative, if the industry were to survive. 

Prior to the war in Europe the price of sugar was 
less than one-sixth of what it was when the beet-sugar 
industry was first established and, although great im- 
provements have been made both in field work and in 
factory processes, the ability of the industry to produce 
sugar at present prices is due to the painstaking efforts 
of scientific seed breeders who have quadrupled the 
original sugar content of the beets. However valuable 
have been the results of study in other lines of devel- 
opment, it must be conceded that the quality of sugar- 
beet seed is the keystone of the arch upon which rests 
an industry that annually provides the world with 
one-half of its total supply of sugar. 

So important seemed the objective sought by the 
seed breeders, that for many years the experiments 
were conducted with the utmost secrecy, and even yet, 
the growers' methods are treated as trade secrets. 
The result is a dearth of Kterature relating to this 
subject. 

The observations made in the following pages are 
based upon information obtained in 1908, 1910, and 
191 1, while visiting sugar-beet seed farms in Europe. 
For information and courtesies extended on these 



PREFACE V 

trips, the author wishes to express his thanks and high 
appreciation to Dr. Lewis S. Ware of Paris, author of 
''Sugar Beet Seed"; M. Philippe de Vihnorin, of 
Vihnorin, Andrieux & Co., sugar-beet seed growers, 
Paris; Mr. Ernst Giesecke, Director Clerc and Captain 
Troje of Rabbethge & Giesecke, sugar-beet seed growers, 
Kleinwanzleben, Germany; Mr. J. P. Dudok van 
Heel, of Kuhn & Co., sugar-beet seed growers, Naar- 
den, Holland; Mr. M. Ritter von Wohanka, Dr. H. 
Briem and Mr. K. Possam, of Wohanka & Co., sugar- 
beet seed growers, Prague and Yenc, Bohemia. The 
author also wishes to thank the following, who have 
reviewed portions of his manuscript: Dr. Harvey W. 
Wiley, who supervised the raising of the first com- 
mercial sugar-beet seed grown in America; Dr. Hans 
Mendelsohn, who for several years past has been in 
charge of extensive sugar-beet seed operations in Colo- 
rado, Nebraska, and Montana; Dr. C. 0. Townsend, 
director of the sugar-beet seed experiments conducted 
by the United States Department of Agriculture, and 
Mr. W. K. Winterhalter, who manages large sugar- 
beet seed "farms in Idaho. 



TABLE OF CONTENTS 



PAca 

Introduction ix 

Objectives and Problems c i 

Breeding New Types 5 

Super-elite, Elite, and Commercial Sugar-beet Seed. 8 

Time Required in which to Produce Sugar-beet Seed, io 

Districts where Grown 1 1 

Soil and Fertilization 12 

Planting Super-Elite Seed for Growing ''Mother 

Beets " 15 

First Physical Selection 17 

Second Physical Selection 19 

First Chemical Selection 21 

Second Chemical Selection 25 

Planting and Cultivating Selected ''Mother Beets". . 26 

Planting "Elite" Seed 29 

Germination Tests 30 

Harvesting, Threshing and Cleaning Sugar-beet Seed 32 

Purchasers' Guarantee 37 

American-grown Sugar-beet Seed 46 

State of Washington Sugar-beet Seed Farm 51 

Seed Growing in California 60 

Seed Growing in Utah and Idaho 61 

Sugar-beet Seed Experiments in South Dakota 62 

Single-germ Beet Balls 68 

Sugar-beet Seed Situation in 19 14, 191 5 and 191 6 84 

Importance of Domestic Sugar-beet Seed Production . . 89 

World Production of Sugar-beet Seed 97 

United States Production of Sugar-beet Seed 109 

Statistical Tables 115 

vii 



INTRODUCTION 



The sugar beet is one of the most scientifically bred 
plants in the world. Other plants are bred for bulk 
or beauty or flavor, but the sugar beet is bred for its 
chemical constituents; not for the plant itself, but for 
its resultant product, sugar, which, by the aid of the 
light, is gathered wholly from the atmosphere at the 
under, outer edges of the leaves and from there is car- 
ried through the leaf and leaf-stalks and deposited in 
the root. 

Beginning with a little scraggy, irregular-shaped 
plant which weighed but a few ounces, and in France 
yielded only 5.89 tons per acre in 181 2, the botanical 
wizards have developed a large, regular-shaped, one 
and one-half to two pound root which in Germany, 
the greatest beet-sugar producing country, yields an 
average of about 14 tons per acre from 1,300,000 acres. 
More important even than the increase in size has 
been the increase in sugar content. Originally contain- 
ing but 4 to 5 per cent, of sugar, of which Achard in 

ix 



X INTRODUCTION 

i8i2 was able to recover 2.27 per cent., beets now con- 
tain 16 to 20 per cent, of sugar, 85 per cent, of which is 
recoverable. As a result of the increase of both ton- 
nage and sugar content, Germany now harvests as 
much sugar from one acre as Achard harvested from 
17 acres. 

These results have been accomplished by the appli- 
cation of the most painstaking, patient, scientific labor, 
which for generations has been devoted to the breeding 
of sugar-beet seed and by the appUcation of improved 
agricultural and manufacturing methods. 

Botanists have succeeded in modifying almost every 
characteristic which the beet possessed at the outset, 
even to its habit of seeding and perpetuating its species. 
Originally an annual, as are many of the wild beets 
to-day, it sent up its seed stalks and produced its seed 
the year it was planted, but the early botanists trained 
it to devote all of its energies the first year to develop- 
ing its root and to delay its reproductive labors until 
the following season. 

To cause it to produce seed, the root is dug in the 
fall and laid away where it will neither freeze nor heat 
and when replanted in the fields the following spring 
it sends up its seed stalks; the seed is ready to harvest 
in the autumn. 



INTRODUCTION XI 

A few obstinate plants occasionally revert to the former 
habits of the race, and these are useless for breeding 
purposes, but with the great mass of them the biennial 
seeding characteristic has become fixed. That it still 
has a high regard for its ancestry is evidenced by the 
fact that if by chance the seed from an annual beet 
be planted, it produces an enormous proportion of 
annuals, which are of inferior value even for factory 
purposes. 

As an annual, it ceased to grow and to gather sugar 
by the middle of the season and, to feed and nourish its 
seed stalks and seed, it began to use up the sugar it 
already had gathered. The result was that when 
autumn came, the exhausted fibrous roots contained but 
little sugar; the only valuable portion was the seed. 
Due to the skill of the plant wizards, it now devotes 
all its energies the first year to developing a large hand- 
some root and storing it with sugar, the gathering 
of which continues to the harvest time, storing sugar 
even after the root has ceased to grow. 

The well-shaped, high sugar content beets which are 
destined for breeding purposes the following year, if 
they measure up to the fixed standards, are known 
as '^ mother beets." They are dug in the fall, siloed 
and examined during the winter and planted the fol- 



xii INTRODUCTION 

lowing spring, when they put forth their seed-stalks 
and yield their seed in the autumn, a year and a half 
from the time the seed originally was planted. 

As an annual, little or no opportunity was given to 
the botanist, and none to the chemist, to study the 
characteristics of the beet, for the growth of the root 
is impeded if tampered with during the growing season. 
Having been trained to defer its seeding until the second 
year, the botanists and chemists are given a free rein 
and a golden opportunity to examine with the utmost 
minuteness every physical and chemical property of 
both the inside and outside of the root, before determin- 
ing whether or not to replant it the next spring and 
allow it to go to seed. 

As a result, both the weight and sugar content of 
the beet have been increased several hundred per cent., 
and so valuable has it become for sugar-making purposes 
that it supplies one-half the sugar of the world, an 
economic blessing to the people who consume sugar 
and wish to purchase it as cheaply as possible. 

But the change in the habit of seeding is only one of 
many changes which have been effected in the character 
of this plant. Indeed, scarcely an original characteristic 
has been left it, aside from the fact that it still grows 
with its leaves in the air and its root in the ground. 



INTRODUCTION Xlll 

During the last century, the botanists have not only 
changed the color of the neck of the beet from red to 
rose, from rose to gray, from gray to green and from 
green to white, but they have changed the color of the 
beet itself from red to white, back to red and finally 
back to white, its present color. 

They trained it to bury itself and grow entirely be- 
neath the surface of the soil. They then changed their 
minds and trained it to grow as much above as be- 
neath the soil. Finally they led it back and caused it 
to grow entirely beneath the surface with only the 
leaves and crown exposed to the air. 

The texture of its skin and of the root itself has under- 
gone a marked change, as has also the proportion of 
sugar to the other solids in the root. 

The number of its leaves, their shape, their veins, 
their shade, their position and the length of their 
stalks, all have been modified by the botanist. 

As to shape, they have been made to outdo all 
the acts of a contortionist, having assumed no 
less than eleven different shapes in a little over a 
half century, as will be noted from the following 
illustration, reproduced from Dr. Lewis S. Ware's 
''Sugar Beet Seed." 

To-day, pivoting or slender shapes are used exclu- 



XIV 



INTRODUCTION 




Olive. 



Large Neck, 



Small Neck. 



Short, 




Pivoting. Slender. Forked 

Types of Beets 
From " Sugar Beet Seed," by Dr. Lewis S. Ware, Orange Judd Co., 

Publishers. 



INTRODUCTION XV 

sively for factory purposes, though some of the other 
shapes still are used for stock beets. 

In bringing the sugar beet to its present degree of 
perfection, the study has been the quicksand in which 
have been buried more promising hopes and theories 
than have gone down with scores of other plant studies. 
But in working out every known theory concerning 
each characteristic of this pliable plant, the chaff has 
been separated from the wheat and the sugar beet has 
become one of the valuable crops of the world. 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 

Its History and Development 



OBJECTIVES AND PROBLEMS 

Beta Vulgaris is one of many hundred varieties of 
the family to which the sugar beet belongs and it is 
identified botanically with the ordinary garden beet. 
It is known to have existed and to have been used 
for food since the time of the Romans, but through 
special selection and culture during recent years, various 
characteristics, such as shape, size, color, texture, and 
the character of the foliage have become fixed. 

No special interest was centered in the beet until 
the pubHcation in 1747 of Marggraf's pamphlet, in 
which he set forth his discovery that the beet contained 
a small quantity of true cane sugar, of which he had 
succeeded in recovering a quantity of crystals. 

In 1799, Achard, a pupil of Marggraf, presented to 



2 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

the King of Prussia a few pounds of sugar which he had 
succeeded in producing from beets, with the result 
that in 1801, the King financed for him the erection of 
a small factory in Silesia, the first beet-sugar factory 
in the world. Of all the beets experimented with by 
Achard, the White Silesian gave the best results and 
this variety has been used for breeding purposes by 
seed growers throughout Europe. 

Vilmorin, of France, originated the idea of selecting 
beets according to quahty and therefore is the father 
of modern beet breeding. At an early date, he com- 
menced growing beets by selection, but it was not 
mtil 1830 that his work assumed real proportions, 
after which the improvement was rapid and soon was 
taken up at Quedlinburg, in the Province of Saxony, 
Germany. 

Vilmorin's first method of selection was by specific 
gravity, a method which had been in use in Germany 
for testing potatoes. Whole beets were dipped in a 
salt solution of certain strength. The beets which 
floated were rejected, while the heavier beets, which 
sank in the brine, were selected, it being presumed that 
they were universally higher in sugar content. 

Although it later was found that the specific gravity 
of the beet was not correlated to the percentage of 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 3 

sugar in the beet, Vilmorin made such progress in 
increasing the sugar content of the beet, that in 1837 
the ''Vilmorin Original" seed sold at 25 to 75 cents 
per pound, as compared with 6^ cents for Quedlinburg 
seed. In 1850 he published his pamphlet on increas- 
ing the sugar content of the beet, and in 1856 he began 
to breed by selection and to take note of the texture 
of the skin. It was then that, for the first time, the 
question of creating a new variety was discussed. 

Meanwhile, the polariscope had been invented, by 
which the sugar content of the beets could be tested 
with mathematical precision. This instrument in its 
present form was built by Ventske, who pointed out the 
use of the instrument for seed beet selection in 185 1, 
after which Vilmorin adopted it, followed by Rabbethge 
& Giesecke in 1862. 

In 1859 Rabbethge & Giesecke established a sugar- 
beet seed farm at Klein Wanzleben, near Magdeburg, 
which since has grown to be the most extensive sugar- 
beet seed enterprise in the world, comprising 13,000 
acres in Germany and Russia and employing several 
million dollars of capital. The following year, i860, 
this firm commenced to breed a new type of beet which 
has been strictly adhered to ever since, and to-day 
the standard brands of beet seed of the world are a 



4 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

combination of the ''Vilmorin Original" and the German 
''Klein Wanzleben." * 

* All the great plant breeders who have devoted their lives 
to the amelioration of the beet seem to have contented them- 
selves with breeding from some variety of the garden beet, of 
whose early ancestry or origin they know nothing. Ages before, 
the garden beet was bred up from the wild beet, and the early 
selections of the wild plant may or may not have been the best 
from which to breed for sugar-making purposes. It seems strange 
that, so far as appears, no attempt has been made to breed sugar 
beets from some of the numberless varieties which grow on the 
shores of the Adriatic and Mediterranean seas. Dr. Townsend, 
Pathologist of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, has made 
some preliminary experiments in this direction and has secured 
some remarkable results, securing fairly good-sized, well-shaped 
beets the first generation, which yielded 14 per cent, of sugar. 

The European breeders labored for several decades before they 
succeeded in bringing the garden beet up to 14 per cent, sugar, 
and it is possible that from some of the wild varieties a yield 
will be obtained which will astonish the world. 

Another surprise may come from seed grown in Alaska, some 
sections of which have a summer warmth which corresponds 
with that of Washington, D. C. The vegetables there produced 
are of a very superior quality. As the leaves of the beet gather 
sugar from the atmosphere by the aid of the light, it seems 
reasonable to suppose that in a latitude where in the growing 
season, the light is continuous, the extra quantity of light may ma- 
terially increase the quantity of sugar which the leaves will gather. 
Experiments with sugar-beet seed soon will be made in Alaska. 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



BREEDING NEW TYPES 

The process of breeding new t>^es of sugar beets 
usually is as follows: Some one variation from the usual 
is noted in an individual beet or in a family of beets. 
These beets then are photographed and the seed from 
each ''mother" or the outcome of a group of "mothers" 
is kept separate and grown separately for successive 
generations. The selected ''mother" first is planted, 
her seed is sown and the resultant roots are selected, 
all which differ from the original ''mother" being thrown 
out. By modifying the variations in sugar content, 
size, shape, leaves, etc., a new family or strain is created, 
the characteristics of which will be transmitted through 
several generations, thus attaining one of the main 
objects, which is constancy. Oftentimes, after the 
expenditure of years of effort, the accidental introduction 
of one poor seed beet spoils a whole family. 

Nor can the painstaking work cease after the char- 
acteristics of a family have become fixed, for while the 
beet has a tendency to resemble its parent, it may revert 
at any time and resemble some early ancestor. Any 
departure from the regular yearly methods of selection 
and regeneration will cause it to revert to a lower form 



6 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

and, to maintain the purity of the blood, it is con- 
stantly interbred with new standard varieties. 

The work is infinite and must be continued year after 
year, generation after generation, and century after 
century, so long as beets continue to be grown for 
their sugar product. 

Beets resemble the human species, in that the best 
results are to be obtained neither by breeding too 
closely as with the marriage of cousins, nor by inter- 
mingling races. Knauer maintained that all existing 
varieties of sugar beets came from one of five starting 
points: ist, Belgian; 2d, Quedlinburg; 3d, Silesian; 
4th, Siberian; 5th, Imperial beet. 

The problem in beet-seed culture is to breed a seed 
which will produce beets that not only will be satis- 
factory in sugar content and tonnage, but which will 
give like or better results from year to year. In the 
early stages of the work, this quality was lacking; 
sugar factories could not depend upon either tonnage 
or sugar content. 

European beets have been tested running 20 and 
even 22 per cent, sugar, but experiments in breeding 
made with these very high testing beets have resulted 
in comparatively inferior roots. Inasmuch as when the 
approximate state of perfection has been reached in 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 7 

plant breeding, an increased tendency to revert appears, 
the invariably discouraging results secured from breed- 
ing these extraordinarily high sugar content beets 
have led many to believe that, so far as Europe is con- 
cerned, the limit of perfection has been reached in 
breeding sugar-beet seed by methods heretofore used 
and that the most that can be accomplished by these 
methods is to reach and maintain the high standard 
which has been reached by the leading growers. 

Some seed growers have attempted to produce a 
different seed for each character of soil, as well as for 
different climates, but except where the difference in 
soil or climate is marked, these eft'orts have not met 
with success. 

At one time, claims were made that certain seeds would 
mature a month earlier than other seeds; these claims 
were found to be fallacious. Some leading seed growers 
of the world market three varieties of seed: one which 
is high in sugar and low in tonnage, one which is high 
in tonnage and low in sugar, and one which is moderately 
high in both sugar and tonnage. But so closely do 
all the brands of any grower approximate his other 
brands that when the supply of one runs short, it is 
surmised that orders for it are filled by substituting 
his other brands. 



8 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

While there are and always will be great differences in 
expertness, there are no secrets in the breeding of 
sugar-beet seed. The conditions which cause vari- 
tions are known, as are also the meaning of the various 
characteristics of the foliage and of the beet itself. 
A proper appreciation of the importance of these con- 
ditions and characteristics, coupled with methodical, 
careful attention, will bring results which will differ 
only because of the degree of expertness of those en- 
gaged in the work, and a knowledge of essential facts 
which only can be ascertained after years of systematic 
work. 

SUPER-ELITE, ELITE, AND COMMERCIAL SUGAR- 
BEET SEED 

Sugar-beet seed is divided into three classes: super- 
elite, ehte, and commercial. Both the ehte and super- 
eHte seed are the seed obtained from laboratory mother 
beets which have successfully passed every physical 
and chemical examination to which they have been 
subjected. The seed from those mothers which were 
truest to type and yielded the highest results in their 
various examinations is kept separate from all other 
seed and is used for breeding purposes. This is known 
as "super-ehte" seed and is never sold. It is priceless. 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 9 

Whatever value has been acquired by years of patient 
scientific work on the part of the seed grower is repre- 
sented by this super-elite seed, which easily might 
be worth $250 to $1000 per pound. 

The balance of the seed from the original laboratory 
mother beets, all of which had to pass the various exam- 
inations successfully, but which tested slightly lower 
in some characteristic than did the mothers whose 
seed was selected to be used for breeding purposes, is 
known as ''elite" seed. This elite seed is used to grow 
a crop of ''stecklinge" mothers, or ''stick" mothers, 
so named because of the fact that the seed being planted 
and allow^ed to grow thickly, the beets grow long and 
slender, and these "stecklinge" mothers could be planted 
by pressing a pointed stick into the well-prepared 
ground, and after removing the stick the beet could be 
inserted in the hole. 

Commercial beet seed is the product of the "steck- 
ling" mothers, thus commercial beets are two removes 
from the original laboratory beets, which are their 
grandmothers. 



10 SUGAR-BEET SEED 



TIME REQUIRED IN WHICH TO PRODUCE 
SUGAR-BEET SEED 

Starting with a certain strain of seed from which to 
breed, five years of painstaking, scientific work are 
required before the resultant crop of commercial beets 
is harvested. 

First Year. Say that in the spring of 19 16, the orig- 
inal selected and pedigreed super-elite seed is planted. 
In the fall, those of the beets which pass the physical 
selection of both foliage and root and a chemical test 
of the root, are siloed or placed in cellars for the winter, 
where they are kept from frost and from heating. 
These are known as "mother beets." 

Second Year. In the spring of 19 17, these mothers 
are uncovered and, after passing a second chemical test, 
are planted in the field and in the fall yield a crop of 
ehte and super-elite seed. As the super-elite seed is 
withdrawn and used for breeding future generations of 
ehte and super-eUte seed, it does not continue in this 
calculation. 

Third Year. In the spring of 191 8, the "ehte" seed 
is planted closely in order to grow a crop of long thin 
beets called "steckling," which are gathered in the 
fall and preserved in siloes until the next spring. 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 11 

Fourth Year. In the spring of 191 9, the ^'steckHng" 
are planted and in the fall they produce a crop of com- 
mercial seed which can be planted in the spring of 1920, 
producing beets from which sugar is extracted in the 
fall of that year, five years from the time the scientific 
work began. 

DISTRICTS WHERE GROWN 

The territory which is adapted to the production of 
sugar-beet seed is much more restricted than is that 
which is adapted to the production of commercial sugar 
beets. Climatic and soil conditions which may be excel- 
lent for the production of factory beets, more often than 
not are unsuited for the production of sugar-beet seed. 

Germany produces more sugar-beet seed than does 
any other country and practically all of it is grown 
in the Province of Saxony, where the best sugar-beet 
seed land sells at from $600 to $1000 an acre. Russia, 
the next largest producer of seed, has two important seed 
districts, one in Poland, one about Kieff. Nearly all 
of the French seed is produced in the Departments of 
Nord and Aisne; the Austrian seed is produced in the 
Provinces of Bohemia and Moravia. Smaller quan- 
tities are produced in Italy, The Netherlands, and 
Brabant, Belgium. In the United States, considerable 



12 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

quantities of beet seed are produced in Utah, Idaho, 
Montana, and Colorado, and a small quantity in Mich- 
igan. 

But even where soil and chmatic conditions are 
favorable, only a small portion of the land can be de- 
voted to growing sugar-beet seed. The flower is not 
a self-fertilizer, but is rich in pollen and is fertilized 
from the pollen of other neighboring beet flowers. 
As the pollen is carried great distances by the wind and 
the plant suffers from atavism, beet-seed farms must 
be widely separated, else hybrid beets result. It is 
not safe to have breeding fields located within a half a 
mile of each other, as one low-grade beet going to seed 
in the midst of selected seed beets will so affect its 
neighbors as to destroy the value of the surrounding 
seed for a considerable area. 

SOIL AND FERTILIZATION 

Even where climatic conditions are favorable, it 
was thought at one time that this highly organized 
plant would not yield as good results on flat land as 
on hill sides, especially those with a southern ex- 
posure, but in recent years it has seemed to do equally 
well on flat as on hilly ground. 

As to soil, the mother beet is most exacting, both as 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 13 

to character and richness, for it can supply but one- 
tenth of the potassic and lime salts which are needed 
for the seed; the balance is drawn from the soil. 

By scientific fertilizing, inferior soils frequently are 
brought to such a state of productiveness that this 
discriminating plant will thrive, but until such time is 
reached, only the richer, and sometimes irregular sec- 
tions of a field are devoted to mother beets, and the 
poorer portions are devoted to other crops. 

As the rows of beets are made to run around oblong, 
triangular and irregularly shaped patches of inferior 
soil, the fields have the appearance of having been 
planted in a very haphazard manner, but when one 
examines the soil map, he discovers that the field is 
planted in exact conformity with the map. 

Simply to ''fertilize" the soil does not meet the re- 
quirements. It must be ''scientifically fertilized," else 
the resultant seeds are more subject to the attack of 
parasites and micro-mushroom ravages. 

In order to develop the plants as quickly as possible, 
the soils are provided with ample quantities of phos- 
phoric acid, potash, nitrogen, lime and magnesia. On 
the seed farm of M. Legras, in Aisne, France, as noted 
by Dr. Ware, were many different kinds and quahties 
of soil, all of which eventually were brought to a state 



14 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

of perfection by scientific fertilization and intense culti- 
vation. Since raising his soils to the desired state, 
M. Legras annually uses nearly 3500 tons of fertilizer 
on his 750-acre farm. The amount of study, research 
and scientific experimentation which has been devoted 
to this work readily can be understood by noting the 
kinds and proportions of fertilizer M. Legras uses, which 
are as follows: 

Per Cent. 

1760 tons of barnyard manure 50- 58 

950 ' ' defecation scums from beet-sugar factory 27 . 30 

220 " leaves and necks of beets 6.32 

161 " woolen waste 4 . 63 

108 ' ' furnace slag 3.10 

60 " oilcake 1.72 

60 ' ' phosphate 1.72 

52 ^' sodic nitrate i . 50 

30 ' ' fish guano o . 86 

24 ' ' potassic chloride o . 69 

21 " double phosphate potassium and magnesia 0.60 

15 " sulphate of ammonia o . 43 

10 " dried blood o . 29 

9 ' ' super-phosphate 0.26 

3480 " 100.00 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 15 



PLANTING SUPER-ELITE SEED FOR GROWING 
''MOTHER BEETS" 

Sandy loam soils offer the least physical and chem- 
ical obstacles for developing uniform beets, true to 
type, and hence are preferred to the heavier clay soils. 
The soils of the fields used for growing the selected 
super-elite seed are placed in excellent chemical and 
physical condition. They are fertilized scientifically 
and worked thoroughly to great depth until the best 
garden conditions have been attained. 

To avoid errors resulting from local conditions, field 
trials of selected strains of beet seed, to be planted 
for the purpose of breeding ''mother beets," are con- 
ducted on more than one farm, and oftentimes in more 
than one section of the country. 

Ten or twelve pounds of the super-elite seed is re- 
quired for each acre. It is planted by hand or by drills 
and covered to a depth of f of an inch. As there still 
is a diversity of opinion regarding the most desirable size 
of mothers, and as the closer they grow the less size they 
attain, the spacing varies from 8X8 to 12X12 inches. 

The spacing demands experience and cannot be con- 
ducted by ordinary field workers. The cultivating and 



16 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 









JO o 



(/2 Cfi 

g T^ 
. 03 P 



c o 



•3 S 



O g 

> 2 



« .^ ^^ 



B 


? 


^ 


)_ 




.2 


0) 




c3 


H 


1— 1 




(X 


"o 


o 






he 

,5 






OJ 


.22 


cl 


'ai 


ri4 



o^ ^ Ji 



< 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 17 

hoeing is frequent and thorough until such time as 
further field work would injure the leaves. 

Any roots which miss or show degeneracy either are 
replaced by other beets specially grown for this pur- 
pose, or by turnips, in order that all will receive a like 
amount of nourishment. If at harvest time any 
vacant spaces are found, the surrounding beets are 
weighed and 50 per cent, of their weight is deducted, 
as it has been shown by careful experiments that they 
increase to that extent by reason of being isolated. 

FIRST PHYSICAL SELECTION 

Having planted super-eHte seed in the spring and grown 
the beets to maturity, in October the first physical se- 
lection, which has to do with the foliage, is made. The 
expert, and he must be a trained and discriminating 
expert who has devoted years to the work, goes slowly 
through the field, row by row, placing a stake beside 
each beet the leaves and crown of which meet his 
approbation. It may be one in twenty-five, or one in 
a hundred — he misses none which reach the standard; 
he stakes none which are not up to standard. 

As by the aid of the light, the sugar is gathered from 
the atm.osphere by the outer under edges of the leaves 
and from there is carried down and stored in the root, 



18 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

the leaves play an important part in the elaboration of 
sugar and no detail is too small for consideration. 

Beets with very small or deformed or badly- shaped 
leaves are not selected for mothers. Oblong leaves 
indicate higher sugar content than round leaves and 
pointed leaves always are low in sugar. 

If the leaf has a large nerve in the center, without 
intersecting nerves, the beet is low in sugar. Three 
central nerves and partially developed cross nerves are 
what is desired. The wrinkles on the leaves indi- 
cate sugar — the greater the number the higher the 
sugar content. Dark, rather than light-green leaves 
are sought; reddish leaves indicate a beet of poor 
quaHty. The texture and fringes and the length of the 
leaf stalks all have a meaning to the expert who is 
breeding to create or perpetuate an individual type. 
Outspreading leaves indicate more sugar than upright 
leaves where the sun cannot reach their surfaces as 
readily, but if the leaves lie too flat, they will be broken 
off with the cultivator and thus cease to perform their 
function of gathering sugar. 

The percentage of sugar increases with the number 
of leaf-circles, of which there should be not less than 
eight. One of Pellet's observations, made with Vil- 
morin seed, was as follows: 



Cent. Sugar 
in Beet. 


15 


7 


14 


8 


13 


8 


12 


2 


II 


7 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 19 

Number of 
Leaves. 

42 

39 
31 

19 

The size of the crown of the beet also is noted, for it 
must be neither too large not too pinched. 

It required generations of study and experimentation 
to be able to read these and numerous other signs 
which indicate the breeding qualities desired of a 
beet, but now they are as an open book to the trained 
eye of the expert who stakes the beets whose foliage 
and crown meet his approbation. 

SECOND PHYSICAL SELECTION 

Having passed their first physical selection, the 
beets which are staked and are destined for '^mothers" 
are carefully dug, when the roots themselves are 
examined as carefully as were the leaves. They must 
be of good size and length; not too short or their 
radicles will not draw sufficient moisture and nourish- 
ment from the soil; not too long and slender or they 
will lose their tips when plowed out. If the taper 
begins near the top, the tonnage will be low; they 



20 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

must be of good size for a considerable distance below 
their point of greatest diameter. 

The texture and color of their skin are important 
considerations; the tougher the skin, the richer is 
the beet in sugar. 

Two spiral depressions always should extend from 
the neck down, hlled with a hairy growth, as the hairs 
aid in extracting from the soil the maximum amount 
of plant food. 

They should be as regular as though made in a 
mold. Irregular shaped beets are not easily cleaned, 
the adhering dirt dulls the beet knives, hence the shcing 
is poorly done, the cossettes do not give satisfaction 
in the diffusion battery, and owing to the dirt the 
juices are impure. 

The beets which pass the second physical selection 
are tagged with a card bearing a number and printed 
form upon which each mark of the pedigree and qualities 
can be noted in detail, and each beet is photographed. 

The leaves are removed, weighed and the weight 
is noted; the beets selected are carefully laid away. 
The other beets are dug and used for making sugar. 
In November and December a further physical exam- 
ination is made of the beets which have been selected 
for mothers. After passing through an automatic 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 21 

washer, they are spread in a slightly warmed room 
to dry and to afford convenient study of shapes, 
color and texture of skin. 

Beets which fail to meet every requirement are 
sliced and used for sugar. Those \vhich are selected 
are weighed on a self-registering scale, after which 
they are carefully laid away. 

Carefully as were made the selections in the field, 
but 5 to 8 per cent, of the beets which are staked in 
the field ever pass these subsequent examinations 
and reach the chemical laboratory, in which a large 
percentage of those which have met the physical 
requirements are rejected. 

FIRST CHEMICAL SELECTION 

As when medicine fails and the human patient is 
placed upon the surgeon's operating table, so these 
Adonis-like beets which have had every part of their 
exteriors examined with microscopic thoroughness 
now must have their interiors opened, examined and 
analyzed, for the physical points of the outside are 
but indications of what the interiors contain, the latter 
being the chief consideration. 

The composition of the beet should be uniform. 



22 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

as that facilitates the manipulation of the juices in 
factory treatment. When sent to the laboratory, 
each beet has a vertical hole drilled into it reaching 
to the center, and the extracted pulp is weighed and 
divided into not less than three samples, each of 
which is analyzed. The laboratory tests give the 
per cent, of sugar in the beet and in the juice, the 
dry extract of the juice and the purity coefficient or 
solid substances other than sugar.* To prevent de- 

* In the juices of the beet are many salts, or solids, in 
solution. The solids, other than sugar, are called impurities 
and these impurities act as a resistant to the process of extracting 
the sugar. As the sugar and other solids are made in the field 
and not in the factory, it is important to know the proportion 
between sugar and total solid substances and to breed for higher 
sugar content. If a beet contains i8 per cent, of solid substances, 

of which 16 per cent, is sugar, then — - — = purity coefficient 

18 

= 88.8. Not less than 80 per cent, of the solid substances should 
be sugar. In 191 5 the average purity coefficient of beets grown 
in California was 82.65; Colorado, 84.84; Idaho, 87.14; Michi- 
gan, 84.08; Utah, 85.06. In Germany, the purity coefficient 
rarely falls below 87 and frequently exceeds 90, and therefore 
from a given grade of beets showing a like polarization, the 
extraction of sugar per ton of beets is greater in Germany than 
in the United States. In a technical article in "The Beet Sugar 
Gazette" of July, 1901, the writer states the effect of impurities 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



23 



terioration, the holes made by the rasp are filled 
with clay or sprayed or sprinkled with charcoal. 

In one establishment, 60 people make as many as 
10,000 analyses every twenty-four hours. To avoid 
injury, the beets which pass this examination and 
are destined for breeding are carried in specially- 
constructed baskets, cleaned of any adhering dirt 
and laid in rooms on portable tables, usually 50 beets 
to a table, where they are examined a second and 
sometimes a third time, for checking purposes; the 
selection labors continuing through January, Febru- 
ary, and March. 

on the extraction which can be secured from a 12 per cent, beet 
to be as follows: 



Sugar in Beet. 


Purity. 


Yield. 










Molasses. 


Sugar. 


12 


70.0 


512 


6.00 


12 


7^-5 


4-45 


6 


67 


12 


750 


3-82 


7 


29 


12 


77 • 5 


325 


7 


S? 


12 


80.0 


2.70 


8 


42 


12 


82.5 


2.19 


8 


93 


12 


85.0 


1.70 


9 


42 


12 


87 5 


1.24 


9 


88 


12 


90 


0.80 


10 32 



Footnote continued on page 24. 



24 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 



All roots grown from any one sample of seed and 
which prove to be not as uniformly high in sugar 
content and purity as were the original beets from 
which the seed was raised are discarded. Less than 
one-half of one per cent, of the roots tested are found 
to be suitable for breeding purposes. 

After this chemical selection of a breeding family, 
the beets which meet the requirements are inspected 
by the botanist and sugar content and purity are con- 
sidered in connection with shape and other external 
qualities. Then they are laid away in siloes or cellars 
which protect them from heating and freezing, and 
in the spring they receive their final test. 

The same writer gave the following progress in the improve- 
ment of the beet in The Netherlands; 



Years. 


Sugar. 


Purity. 


1892-93 


11.88 


84.60 


1893-94 


12 


69 


85 


30 


1894-95 


12 


12 


85 





1895-96 


13 


79 


87 


2 


1896-97 


13 


24 


87 


4 


1897-98 


14 


33 


87 


9 


1898-99 


15 


13 


87 


8 


I 899-1 900 


14 


65 


87 


3 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 25 

SECOND CHEMICAL SELECTION 

Although having had their every exterior and in- 
terior characteristic examined with persistent minute- 
ness, some growers submit these wounded, battle- 
scarred mothers " to still further mutilation and 
examination the following spring, before they are per- 
mitted to reproduce. 

As they are taken from the silo in the spring, a 
second sample is taken from a hole bored diagonally 
through the center of the root and tested in the po- 
lariscope to determine the quantity of sugar lost during 
the winter. If the loss does not exceed a given amount, 
the '' mother " receives her diploma and when the 
season opens is planted for seed. 

Before planting, every observation, test, and meas- 
urement which has been made of the mothers by the 
botanists and by the chemists in their various exam- 
inations is carefully written up in their individual 
pedigrees, which are attached to the photographs 
for use and reference in after years when breeding 
new famihes, in order to be sure that the physical 
and chemical characteristics are retained. 

One large concern which claims to have the records 
and photographs of each and every mother beet it 



26 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 



has planted during 
their vaults almost 




the past 25 years produced from 
instantly the complete detailed 
record and the photograph of 
every number of mother beet 
called for. 



PLANTING AND CULTIVATING 
SELECTED '^MOTHER BEETS" 

Still handled carefully to avoid 
injury, the ''mother beets" are con- 
veyed to the fields, where they are 
planted by hand ^X^ feet, each 
having an area of 9 square feet 
from which to draw its susten- 
ance. That they need all this 
space can be seen from the accom- 
panying illustration, reproduced 
from Dr. Lewis S. Ware's ''Sugar 
Beet Seed." 

The radicles of a "mother beet " 
frequently extend for a distance 
of three feet in every direction 
and thus when planted only three 
feet apart, the roots interlace and 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 27 

draw nutriment from every cubic inch of soil to a 
depth of several feet. 

These ''mother beets," which have passed every 
scientific examination to which they can be subjected 
by the botanist and the chemist, are of great value. 
Not only are they carefully guarded from theft, but 
to secure the maximum amount of mature seed from 
a given quantity of mothers, wherever practical the 
' 'mothers" are dismembered and planted in several places. 

Nine square feet of soil only will nourish a certain 
number of seed stalks. A large " mother" sends up 
a great number of seed stalks and forms more seed 
than can be matured. Suppressing a portion of the 
stalks was tried, but the efforts were futile, and so, 
except where the ''mothers'^ are small, they are dis- 
membered. 

Where the ''mothers" are small, a whole one is planted 
in each three-foot square, but where the mothers are 
large and have a great number of leaf eyes, they are 
sliced vertically, sometimes into as many as twenty 
pieces, care being exercised to see that each segment 
contains a sufficient number of leaf eyes to furnish 
the requisite number of seed stalks. The wounds 
are dressed with an antiseptic and one segment is 
planted in a place. Thus one mother may be made 



28 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

to produce several times the amount of seed which 
it would produce if planted in one place. Because of 
liability to attack by insects and disease, mothers 
never follow a crop of beets. 

After planting, the 'mothers" are cultivated every 
few days until the foliage becomes so luxuriant as to 
prevent further field work. The seed stalks frequently 
are five feet high. 

The seed ripens in the autumn, but the seed on all 
the seed stalks of one beet does not ripen at the same 
time; thus it is necessary to go through the fields 
several times, selecting and cutting the stalks on which 
the seed is ripe. 

The stalks of the "mothers" which have been selected 
to produce super-elite seed with which to perpetuate 
the breeding, are tagged with the corresponding num- 
bers which had been assigned to their ''mothers" and 
after they have been dried, the seed of each mother is 
removed from the stalk and placed in a separate bag 
bearing the number of the ''mother." After the seed 
is harvested the mother roots are removed from the 
field to prevent breeding insects. 

The balance of the seed from the original selected 
laboratory mothers is known as ''elite" seed and is 
estimated to cost from $4 to $10 per pound to produce. 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 29 

A 1916 shipment to the United States of 50 bags of 
elite seed (no lb. per bag) was insured for $50,000, 
or nearly $10 per pound. EHte seed is never used 
for producing a crop of commercial seed, but to grow 
a crop of long slender "mothers," called '^steckling," 
which, in turn, produce the seed of commerce. Thus 
commercial beets are not the children, but the grand- 
children of the ''mothers." 

PLANTING "ELITE" SEED 

*' Elite" seed for the production of "steckling" is 
drilled in rows usually 16 inches apart, using 10 to 
12 pounds of seed per acre. 

The plants sometimes are thinned to one inch 
apart in the rows and are cultivated the same as are 
commercial beets. The roots grow deep in the ground, 
but only to one or one and one-half inches in size and 
weigh from two to ten ounces. 

The dwarfing of the diameter of the roots, caused 
by growing closely in the rows, hastens their ripening, 
thus affording a longer time for hardening, prior 
to harvesting, in consequence of which they keep 
better through the winter. 

Before harvesting, all the roots which throw up any 



30 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

seed stalks are removed. One acre of ''steckling" 
will produce enough beets to plant many acres for 
seed. It is customary to defoliate, or remove the 
leaves, of the ''steckling," after which they are care- 
fully siloed in pits from 15 inches to 3 feet deep, by 
3 to 4 feet wide, where they are protected from heating 
or freezing by soil covering of the required depth. 

GERMINATION TESTS 

As soon as any of the seed has ripened, the ger- 
mination tests are begun. Of each average sample 
of seed, two tests are made for determining its ger- 
minating power. To make this test, the seed fre- 
quently is soaked from six to fifteen hours in sterilized 
water in a room of 68 to 75 degrees Fahrenheit, after 
which it is pressed into a germination bed. 

One method of testing is as follows: Germination 
beds are made of sand, to which moisture is added to 
the extent of 60 per cent, of its water-holding capacity. 
Deep plates are partially filled with saturated, sterilized 
sand, and with an instrument resembling a pill machine, 
100 indentations are made in the sand of each plate. 
One beet ball is dropped into each indentation, and 
the sand is smoothed over them. Over each pan is 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 31 

placed a glass cover on which is recorded the kind 
of seed, together with the date of planting and the 
weight of the filled receptacle, after which it is placed 
in a room which is kept at a temperature of 70° F. 

For checking purposes, all tests are made in dupli- 
cate. The plates are weighed daily and sufficient 
weight of water is added to renew the loss by evap- 
oration. 

The germination rooms are kept at an even, exact 
temperature during the day, sometimes slightly raised 
at night. After having been placed in the germina- 
tion bed, the balls which have germinated are counted 
and noted daily, and the germs are removed. After 
removing the germs these balls are sometimes placed 
in another germination bed. Those which have not 
germinated remain in the original bed. 

At the end of seven days, 70 per cent, of the re- 
quired number of germs must have germinated, and 
the total required number must have germinated by 
the end of fourteen days. 



32 SUGAR-BEET SEED 



HARVESTING, THRESHING AND CLEANING 
SUGAR-BEET SEED 

As with the seed from selected mother beets, the 
seed which grows from the steckling ripens unevenly, 
that on some stalks being ripe while on other stalks 
from the same beet the seed is quite green. This 
necessitates going over the fields several times. 

As the stalks are cut, they are stacked in bundles 
to dry, after which they are threshed with an ordinary 
threshing machine in which the speed of the cylinder 
has been reduced. The seed then is conveyed to 
storage warehouses. The weight of seed and stalks 
per acre runs from two to six thousand pounds, v/hich 
yields from 1200 to 2500 pounds of seed. In Ger- 
many the yield is 1600 to 1800 pounds; in Russia, 
1200 to 1400 pounds. 

In the warehouses the seed is passed over vibrat- 
ing sieves to remove the dirt, weed seed, and very 
small beet-seed balls, and through winnowing machines, 
or fanning mills to remove the dust, blossoms, and 
light, undeveloped seed. Ordinarily, it is an easy 
matter to remove all but a small fraction of i per 
cent, of the inert matter, but as the ''Magdeburger 
Normen," under which the seed is sold, allows 3 per 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



33 






^H 




34 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

cent, of dirt to be sold as seed, the grower usually 
regulates the cleaning so as to leave in the seed 2| 
per cent, of dirt, thus complying with the fixed stand- 
ard and getting paid a good price for a considerable 
quantity of dirt. 

After being cleaned, the seed is carried by ma- 
chinery over stalk-pickers, inclined endless belts of 
cloth, from which the seed rolls away and to which 
the remaining seed stalks cling and are carried to a 
chute. 

After the seed has been cleaned, it is tested for 
moisture, which, under the '^Magdeburger Normen" 
must not exceed 15 per cent, of the weight of the 
seed. If the moisture exceeds 15 per cent., the seed 
is dried, usually by artificial dryers, and again the 
grower is careful not to remove any more moisture than 
is necessary to comply with the fixed standard. With 
the moisture below 15 per cent., the seed will keep 
for five years. 

The '' Magdeburger Normen" fixes a standard for 
germinating power and any seed w^hich does not reach 
this standard can be thrown back on the grower. 
If old seed falls below the standard fixed, to render 
such seed salable, it is blended with seed of higher 
germinating power, after which it is packed in double 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



35 




36 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 




C/5 




H 


, 


W 

W 


i2 






Q 


Oh 


W 


TD 


M 


(U 


C/2 


.4-> 




<u 


P4 


'oJ 


O 


c« 


H 


o 


t-i 


t/1 


pLn 


<u 




> 


P^ 


o 


O 


u 


^ 


•S 


M 


"2 




:3 


> 


s 


K? 


to 


< 


a 


P4 


CO 



IIS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 37 

5i bushel bags, containing no pounds, and stored 
for shipment. 

PURCHASERS' GUARANTEE 

The standard fixed for sugar-beet seed is known as 
the "Magdeburger Normen" and seed growers gen- 
erally guarantee their seed to be up to this standard, 
which is as follows: 

(i) Dry substance, 85 per cent., that is, not over 15 per cent, 
moisture. If over 15 per cent, and not exceeding 17 per cent, 
moisture, deduction in price must be made for the missing dry- 
substance. If over 1 7 per cent, moisture, seed can be rejected. 

(2) Seed shall be 96 per cent, pure, that is, 96 per cent, of seed 
balls which will not pass through a 2-mm. slit sieve, but seed of 
94.5 per cent, purity is furnishable if the purity below 96 per cent, 
is allowed for at its proportion of the purchase price. If less 
than 94.5 per cent, pure, seed can be rejected. 

(3) Germination power must be, per kilogram (2.2 lb.): 

(a) In case of large seed-ball seed, 60,000 germs; 

(b) In case of medium seed-ball seed, 65,000 germs; 
(r) In case of small seed-ball seed, 70,000 germs. 

At least 70 per cent, of the required germs must have germi- 
nated within seven days. 

The germination from 100 seed-balls within fourteen days 
must be not less than: 

{a) In case of large seed-ball seed 80 seed-balls; 
(b) In case of medium seed-ball seed 75 seed-balls; 
(r) In case of small seed-ball seed 70 seed-balls. 



38 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

By large seed-balls is meant seed which contains not more 
than 40 seed-balls per gram; medium, 41 to 50 balls; small, 
51 or more seed-balls per gram. One hundred seed-balls should 
give not less than 125 sprouts in seven days and 150 sprouts in 
fourteen days. 

It will be observed from the above that no guar- 
antee is made covering either the sugar content, purity 
or tonnage which can be expected from the seed. 
For these results, the purchaser must rely upon the 
reputation of the seed grower and upon his experience 
with the various brands of seed which have been planted 
upon the character of soil where his factory is located. 
Laxity on the part of a grower means a variation 
in the results which can be obtained from his seed; 
even a slight decrease may cause a loss of many thou- 
sands of dollars to a factory. 

The average yield of beets in the United States is 
about 10 tons per acre, and to grow this acre of beets, 
20 pounds of seed is used, or 200,000 pounds to plant 
10,000 acres. A difference of i cent per pound in 
the price of the seed would amount to 20 cents per 
acre or $2000 on 10,000 acres. But when difference 
in price means even a slight lowering in the quality 
of seed, an apparent saving of $2000 would in reaHty 
mean a material loss. 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



39 




Isolated Sugar-beet Seed 

Seed beet covered with wire cage and tall muslin bag to give ample 

room for growth of seed stems and prevent overcrowding of racemes. 



40 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

The variation in results secured from two good, 
but varying brands of seed might easily amount to 
I per cent, in the sugar content of the beets or 200 
pounds of sugar per acre, 85 per cent, of which, or 170 
pounds per acre, is recoverable in the factory. Calcu- 
lating the value of this sugar at 4 cents per pound, the 
loss m sugar would amount to $6.70 per acre or $67,000 
on 10,000 acres, a net loss of $65,000 on the transaction. 

The lower tonnage yield of the inferior seed easily 
mJght amount to one ton per acre; a loss to the farmers 
of $57,000, thus incurring a total loss of $112,000, 
offset only by a saving of $2000 on the price of seed. 

At 4 cents a pound for sugar, a seed which pro- 
duces a beet containing one extra per cent, of sugar is 
worth ^;i,^ cents per pound more than is the inferior 
seed. Such being the case, it is easy to understand 
why many of the great botanists, physiologists and 
chemists have devoted their lives to the amelioration 
of the sugar beet, and why sugar factories do not try 
to save money by purchasing any but what is rep- 
resented to be the highest grade of seed. 

In quality, the purchasers of beet seed may be 
deceived. The harvest may be poor, or the grower 
may be careless, or worse. 

Words of warning emanating from authentic sources 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 41 

have not been infrequent. In Monthly Consular 
Report No. 218, November, 1898, American Consul, 
Henry W. Diedrich, then stationed at Magdeburg, 
Germany, said in part: 

" If I may express an opinion, based on my personal observation, 
it is that some of our beet growers should insist more than they 
have upon getting none but the best of seed, no matter what the 
price may be. * * * The first-class sugar factories of Europe 
buy none but the very best seed, grown from high-grade indi- 
vidual 'mother' beets, to distribute among the beet growers; 
thus not only maintaining the standard of their sugar beets 
as to quality and quantity, but also putting themselves in a 
position to compete in all markets of the world. This first-class 
seed is sold and delivered by the growers on board cars in the 
Prussian province of Saxony at from 8 to 10 cents per pound, 
which is a moderate price, considering the fact that it takes at 
least four years to get it into the market. 

" There is also a second-class seed offered for sale in this country 
at from 5 to 6 cents per pound. This is commonly called the 
'nachzuchtsamen,' being a seed produced not from the mother 
beets, but from the first-class seed mentioned above. This 
inferior grade, however, is not used by first-class sugar men 
in Germany, France, Holland, and Belgium, but most of it goes 
to Austria, Russia, and the United States. And this is the 
reason why I deem it my duty to call attention to the importance 
of getting only the very best seed obtainable." 

After studying the question for years, Mr. J. E. 



42 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

W. Tracey, Sugar Beet Expert of the United States 
Department of Agriculture, said in ''Progress of the 
Beet-Sugar Industry in the United States" in 1902: 

" The beet-sugar industry in now so well established in the 
United States that it would be poor policy to depend longer on 
imported seed, there being always a possibility that by failure 
of the crop, or for reasons political or owing to trade disturbances, 
the supply of seed may be cut off. Even if this possibility is 
regarded as remote, it is nevertheless true that American beet- 
sugar factories will never attain their maximum profit until there 
is beet seed especially produced to meet American conditions 
of soil and climate." 

The following year the Secretary of Agriculture 
sent Mr. Tracey to Europe, where he spent five months 
on sugar-beet seed farms. The 1904 Year Book of 
the Department of Agriculture contained an article 
by Mr. Tracey on the ''Disadvantage of Relying 
upon Foreign-grown Seed." Mr. Tracey said in part: 

" While there are careful and painstaking growers in France 
and Germany, where the great bulk of the sugar-beet seed used 
in this country is produced, there are many who are not only 
careless in their methods but dishonest in their practice in handhng 
sugar-beet seed. They pose as growers and claim to make ex- 
tensive analyses every year of individual roots, whereas in reality 
they simply buy seed where they can do so most advantageously, 
regardless of its quality. A large proportion of the seed used 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 43 

in the United States is furnished by such dealers, while the 
better class of German growers, who, through fifteen or twenty 
generations of plants, have conducted most careful field and 
experimental trials and annually spend thousands of dollars 
in testing individual roots and making records and photographs 
of them, sell but very little seed here. This is largely due to 
the lack of interest and failure on the part of the American seed- 
buyers in investigating the methods and establishments of those 
from whom they secure seed. 

*' The information one generally secures from sugar-beet seed 
growers, not only as to their own business, but as to that of 
their associates as well, is frequently unreliable. Exaggeration 
is very common, and it is frequently impossible for an outsider 
to reconcile the results of his own observations with the state- 
ments made, both in conversation and in print. Seed which is 
sold as having been grown in the most careful and scientific 
manner is often actually the cheapest and poorest grade of seed 
procurable. It consists of both new and old seed, which has been 
grown under widely different conditions of soil and climate, and 
is mixed together by specially constructed machinery. It is 
explained that the different lots of seed are mixed to insure 
an evenness both in the germination of the seed and in the quality 
of the crop. The absurdity of mixing all kinds and grades of 
seed to produce uniformity in the crop is evident. 

" It is generally admitted that the sugar beet, being one of 
our most highly bred plants, is very susceptible to the influence 
of both climatic and soil conditions; hence seed should be used 
which was produced under the most favorable conditions for 
the production of beets best suited to each particular locality. 



44 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

The best seed imported is raised for the most part under very- 
similar cHmatic and other conditions, but it is sown here in 
America under all conditions and in all soils, in New York and 
Michigan, Nebraska and Washington, and in the arid and semi- 
arid regions of Utah and California. No single strain can be 
the best for all of these varied localities. We can never expect 
to secure the best results in our sugar-beet industry when we 
have such conditions in the seed branch of the business. 

IMPORTANCE OF GROWING SUGAR-BEET SEED AT 
HOME 

" It is absolutely essential to success that we secure the best 
quahty of seed, and past experience has conclusively shown 
that we cannot depend upon doing so from abroad. We must 
raise it ourselves, and in such a careful, scientific manner that 
it will not only be of the best quality, but will have such char- 
acteristics as will make it adapted to the particular needs and 
requirements of the locaHty where it is to be sown. Seed raised 
on a particular soil and under certain climatic conditions may 
not be best suited for planting in like soils and under similar cli- 
matic conditions; in fact, very often it is not. Seed from com- 
paratively poor soil may do best on rich soils, or that raised 
in the East may do best when sown in the West. Only study 
and personal experience on the part of each factory manager 
can determine what seed is best suited for the conditions in his 
region. 

'' For several years efforts have been made to raise seed on 
a commercial scale in various sections of the United States, 
particularly in the States of Michigan, Nebraska, Utah, Colo- 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 45 

rado, and Washington, but not until recently has any serious 
attempt been made to raise it from pedigreed roots, or in accord- 
ance with the scientific methods found to give the best results. 

EXCELLENCE OF AMERICAN-GROWN SEED 

" During the last three years the Department of Agriculture 
has been conducting extensive experiments in testing American- 
grown seed in comparison with the best grade of imported seed 
procurable. These experiments have shown a marked difference 
in sugar content, purity, and yield, and in these quahties the 
American-grown seed compared most favorably with the im- 
ported. This is remarkable, as the American-grown seed was 
grown by seedsmen who had Httle knowledge and made Httle 
use of the scientific methods practiced in Germany. If it is 
said that the superiority of American-grown seed in these trials 
was due to the fact that the imported European seed was of 
inferior grades, then it is high time we gave up depending upon 
Europe for our supply, as every effort was made to secure for 
these comparative tests the best grades of seed procurable in 
Europe, and the prices paid were as high as those paid by the 
most critical factories there. If it be said that the soil and 
natural conditions were responsible for the superiority of the 
American-grown seed, it makes more evident the desirability 
of growing our own seed and emphasizes the importance of our 
doing it according to strictly scientific methods." 

As a result of the above and other warnings, Ameri- 
can purchasers of sugar-beet seed have become more 
discriminating from year to year and gradually they 



46 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

have weeded out the poorer brands of seed. This 
discrimination is reflected in the extraction of sugar 
per ton of beets, which has increased from 11.59 P^^ 
cent, in 1903 to 14.21 per cent, in 191 5, an increase 
of 2.62 per cent, or 22.6 per cent, more sugar extracted 
from each ton of beets sliced. The tons of beets per 
acre also have increased and, whereas the yield of 
sugar per acre was 1984 pounds in 1903, in 191 5 it 
was 2870 pounds per acre, an increase of 44.6 per 
cent. These results are due in part to better seed, 
in part to better agricultural methods, and in part 
to better factory results. 

AMERICAN-GROWN SUGAR-BEET SEED 

Department of Agriculture 
Sugar-beet Seed Experiment Station in Nebraska 

For a number of years sugar-beet seed has been 
grown to a limited extent in the United States, and 
most of the seed here produced has been superior to 
the best imported seed. 

The earliest recorded attempt to produce sugar- 
beet seed in the United States was made by the United 
States Department of Agriculture at Schuyler, Ne- 
braska, where the Department established a sugar- 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 47 

beet seed Experiment Station in 1890. This station, 
the sorghum stations in Kansas and the cane-sugar 
station in Florida were established by the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture at the instance of Dr. Harvey 
W. Wiley, who was Chief Chemist of the Department 
from 1883 to 191 2. Dr. Wiley's interest in the pro- 
duction of sugar began while he was studying at Berlin, 
and for thirty years he not only has been an enthu- 
siastic champion of the idea of the home production 
of sugar, but his work and his writings have con- 
tributed more to the establishment of the present 
American beet-sugar industry than have those of 
any other scientist. 

The Schuyler station, as well as all other sugar 
work of the Department, was under the direction of 
Dr. Wiley. The work at Schuyler was under the 
immediate supervision of Dr. Walter Maxwell, Dr. 
Wiley's assistant. 

The station was not supplied with highly-developed, 
carefully-grown, expensive ''elite" seed, such as is 
universally used in Europe for breeding sugar-beet 
seed. The best with which it had to operate was 
ordinary European commercial seed such as is used 
for growing factory beets. 

In 1891 and 1892 small quantities of seed were 



48 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

produced and in order to determine its relative quality; 
it was planted in plots at the station, alongside of 
other plots which were planted with the best foreign 
seed, of the same and other brands. The soil and 
the care given the different plots were identical. 

It was found that the climatic conditions at Schuyler 
were not favorable for the production of sugar-beet 
seed, but notwithstanding this, the lack of high-grade 
seed from which to breed and the lack of experience 
in sugar-beet seed production, the beets produced 
from the home-grown seed out-ranked in every respect 
those produced from the best foreign seed. 

The results obtained are recorded in Bulletins No. 
39 and 52 of the U. S. Department of Agriculture, 
which were prepared and written at that time. The 
following comment by Dr. Wiley concerning the 
results obtained at the Schuyler station are from 
the Department of Agriculture Farmer's Bulletin No. 
52, 1897: 

'' In the experiments conducted at the station at Schuyler 
during the season of 1893 a comparison of the beets grown from 
domestic and imported seeds was made. The plants from the 
native-grown seed seemed to have a higher vitality and to 
be better suited to the climatic conditions of the locality than 
those grown from imported seeds. They showed during the 
growing season a more abundant fohage and a better develop- 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 49 

ment of roots. The higher vitality and quality of the beets grown 
from domestic seed illustrate in a forcible degree the advisa- 
bility of the production of our beet-seed at home. Even granting 
that seeds produced in foreign countries have the same high 
quahties, it must be admitted that their vitality is in danger 
of being very much diminished during shipment to this country. 
The moist air of the holds of the ships in which they are trans- 
ported often produces moldiness and incipient germination, which 
tend to greatly diminish their value. Not only did the beets 
produced from the home-grown seed have a higher percentage 
of sugar, but they also afforded a higher yield per acre, as deter- 
mined in the experiments at Schuyler. The mean tonnage per 
acre from the home-grown seed was 21.1 and from the imported 
seed, 17.9 The mean pounds of sugar produced per acre from 
the home-grown seed was 5891 and from the imported seed 
5185. This shows an increase of about 12 per cent, in the actual 
quantity of sugar per acre when domestic seed was used. These 
data should be carefuUly studied by all those who are interested 
in the production of beet sugar in this country. Perhaps the 
time has not yet come for the inception of such a work, but it 
is evident that it will not be long before there will be a demand 
for the estabhshment in this country of a plantation or plan- 
tations devoted exclusively to the production of beet seeds on 
the most approved scientific principles. 

"The quantity of seed required to plant an acre is about 15 
pounds. The approximate number of acres planted to beets 
in this country during the past season was 30,000, requiring 
450,000 pounds of seed. It is evident that there is already 
an opportunity for the active operation of a large plantation 



50 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

devoted exclusively to the production of beet seeds for domestic 
use. 

" Another point to be considered is that by the importation 
of foreign seeds there is danger of introducing those fungoid 
and microbian diseases of beets which have produced such ravages 
in Europe." 

Such high results did this seed yield that the Oxnard 
Beet Sugar Company paid the Government 20 cents 
per pound for all it would sell, or 50 per cent, more 
than that company then paid for the best foreign 
seed. 

With such flattering results, obtained under ad- 
verse circumstances 25 years ago, it is fair to presume 
that had this work been continued, the United States 
now would be producing sugar-beet seed which would 
yield beets materially superior to any now produced 
in the world. 

In the poHtical upheaval of 1892 Mr. Cleveland 
became President, and when Sterling Morton assumed 
the portfolio of Secretary of Agriculture he ordered 
all Government experimental sugar work abandoned. 
The Schuyler, Nebraska, and Sterling, Kansas, sugar- 
beet stations closed their doors. The writer is in- 
formed that the Medicine Lodge, Kansas, sorghum 
plant, which had cost $20,000 to build, had a capacity 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 51 

of 20 tons per day and was extracting 230 pounds of 
sugar per ton of sorghum, was sold for $1800. The 
Runnymede, Florida, cane-sugar mill, which had cost 
$18,000 to erect and was about to have steam turned 
on for the first time, was sold for $2000. The beets 
which had been planted in the newly-established 
California station rotted in the ground. 

With the abandonment of this work and the aboHtion 
of the sugar bounty, the Government turned its back 
on all that pertained to the development of a home 
sugar industry. 



STATE OF WASHINGTON SUGAR-BEET SEED 
FARM 

With the return of the Republicans to power in 
1896 and the appointment of James Wilson as Sec- 
retary of Agriculture, the Government renewed its 
beet-seed and other sugar investigation work, paying 
especial attention to seed developments in Utah, 
Michigan and New York, at all of which places good 
results were obtained. 

The number of beet-sugar factories rapidly in- 
creased and with the erection of a factory at Waverly, 
Washington, Mr. E. H. Morrison, who owned an 



62 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

8oo-acre farm in that vicinity, began growing several 
hundred acres of beets for the factory. 

Morrison had been growing vegetable seed for a 
number of years and in 1899 he siloed some mother 
beets of several different varieties. In 1900 he pro- 
duced a few hundred pounds of beet seed. The re- 
sults obtained from the various brands of seed experi- 
mented with, indicated that the Klein Wanzleben 
Original would bring the best results, and on this 
variety Morrison concentrated his work. As with 
the Government experiments in Nebraska ten years 
before, Morrison had no high-priced, pedigreed elite 
seed to breed from, but began his work with ordinary 
commercial seed. 

In order to encourage the enterprise, the Depart- 
ment of Agriculture purchased, tested, and distributed 
considerable quantities of the Morrison seed. The 
results secured were flattering. Morrison increased 
his plantings and in 1903 produced 35 tons of seed, 
and siloed a miUion ^' mothers " to be planted the fol- 
lowing spring. 

To determine the relative germinating value of 
foreign and domestic seed, the Department of Agri- 
culture tested 9 brands of foreign and 4 brands of 
domestic seed. Among the foreign seed tested was 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



53 



Dippe, Vilmorin, Rabbethge & Giesecke, Schreiber, 
and Breustedt. The tests of domestic seed were 
Morrison, grown in the State of Washington; Utah 
Sugar Company, grown in Utah; Agnew, grown in 
California, and Alma Sugar Company, grown in Mich- 
igan. 

Some of the domestic seeds tested fell below some 
of the foreign brands, but the Washington seed showed 
a materially higher germinating power than did the 
best foreign seed. The average results secured from 
the 9 brands of foreign seed and from the Washington 
seed were as follows: 





Nine 
Brands 
Foreign 

Seed. 


Washing- 
ton Seed. 


Supe- 
riority of 
Washing- 
ton Seed. 








Per Cent. 


Number of sprouts in 6 days 


150-4 


198.5 


31-9 


Number of sprouts in 14 days 


166.7 


203.0 


21.8 


Average per cent, of balls developing 








cr\rr\iit«; in fs nnvs 


70. ^ 


96.5 


37-3 


Average per cent, of balls developing 










76.2 


97-5 


28.0 


Total average number of sprouts 








from 2\ lb. seed, in 6 days 


70,973 


96,800 


36.4 


Total average number of sprouts 








from 2I lb. seed, in 14 days 


78,175 


98,600 


26.1 



54 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

The sugar content of the Washington beets, as shown 

by 185 tests made by the State Agricultural College at 

Pullman, Washington, October 10, 1903, was as follows: 

Below 18% 8 beets, average sugar in beet 17 . 26% 

18-19 15 18.48 

19-20 52 19.38 

20-21 53 20.30 

21-22 39 21.22 

22-23 16 22.22 

23-24 I 23.00 

24- I 24 . 00 



Total 185 20.21% 

162 Beets average 21 .69% 

no Beets average 22.15% 

The Department of Agriculture purchased 5 tons 
of the Washington seed at 10 cents per pound, but 
Morrison was unable to induce the sugar factories to 
purchase any portion of the balance at that price. 

Morrison appealed to Secretary of Agriculture Wil- 
son, declaring he could not afford to sell his seed at 
less than 10 cents per pound and that he would let 
his mother beets rot in the silo, rather than continue 
the work if he could not find a market for his product. 

In appealing to the writer to interest himself in 
the placing of the Washington seed. Secretary of 
Agriculture Wilson wrote, in part, as follows, on 
February 17, 1904: 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 55 

*' The report of the scientist which I have had on the sugar- 
beet seed farms of Europe for five months and the experiments 
which have been made in this country in producing sugar-beet 
seed show the imperative necessity of producing our seed in this 
country at the eariiest practicable moment. In the mean time 
the greatest care should be exercised in the selection of foreign- 
grown seed in order that a much larger proportion of our sowings 
will be of the best quality such as is used exclusively by Euro- 
pean beet growers. 

" The seed question is the very heart of the industry, the founda- 
tion upon which depends success or failure, for without good seed 
no combination of propitious conditions can bring success either 
to the farmer or the manufacturer. 

" We have been co-operating to some extent with Mr. Mor- 
rison of the State of Washington, who has a seed farm several 
hundred acres in extent. Our experiments show that with 
equal attention to the scientific details we can produce at home 
a seed far superior to the best European seed. Last year this 
Department purchased a quantity of the Washington seed, this 
seed being produced from mothers selected from factory beets 
which averaged 19 per cent, sugar, the original seeds being also 
home-grown. This seed was distributed among sugar-beet 
farmers and wherever we have been able to secure comparative 
tests it has given excellent results, its great vitality being specially 
marked. This year we shall send out several tons of the 1903 crop. 

" I have asked Congress for a special appropriation for con- 
ducting scientific sugar-beet seed work and in case Mr. Morrison 
continues his efforts, have arranged that the seed scientists of 
this Department take entire charge of the scientific work on his 



56 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

farm. By utilizing the science of two continents to develop 
a definite, fixed strain of highly bred American beets, I am. con- 
vinced that they will be higher in germinating power, vitality and 
tonnage and several per cent, higher in sugar content and purity 
than the best beets grown from foreign seed. By centralizing 
our efforts for the' present in one favorable locality we will accom- 
plish results most quickly, w^hen other seed growers can take up 
the work and perpetuate the strain, raising any quantity desired. 

" * * * In sugar-beet seed the market is confined to the fifty 
or more factories which your association represents and without 
their co-operation in furnishing a market for the seed produced, 
the present plans cannot be carried out. 

" * * * The higher germinating power and extreme vitality of 
sprouts and beets from American-grown seed will insure an 
earlier stand, a more vigorous growth and hence a higher ton- 
nage. This also promotes immunity from diseases and re- 
sistance to damage by insects and drouth. Furthermore, 25 
per cent, less seed can be used and still secure a better stand than 
with imported seed. Another feature is that where good and 
poor seed is not thoroughly mixed, it sometimes occurs that 
a considerable part of or the whole of a row does not germinate, 
thus resulting in severe loss to the farmer. With American- 
grown seed this risk would be entirely eliminated. 

" You can perform no more valuable service to the members 
of your association than in calling their attention to the true 
condition of the sugar-beet seed business and pointing out the 
remedy for it." 

As the result of much writing and the issuance of 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 57 

40 pages of mimeographed matter, the writer finally 
succeeded in placing the 30 tons of seed among 
factories located in Nebraska, Minnesota, Colorado, 
Wisconsin, Michigan, Ohio and New York, at 8.8 cents 
per pound, and the seed was planted in the spring 
of 1904. So superior were the results obtained that 
from that time on, Morrison increased his acreage 
and had no trouble in disposing of all the seed he 
raised. 

The Department of Agriculture estabUshed a station 
on the Morrison farm in 1905 and took entire charge of 
the scientific work, which was carried on under the 
direct charge of Mr. Reed, under the direction of 
Mr. J. E. W. Tracey, Assistant Superintendent of 
Testing Gardens, Department of Agriculture. Again 
it appeared that the sugar factories of the United 
States soon would be supplied with higher grade seed 
than any other factories in the world. 

But the fruit boom struck eastern Washington in 
191 1, the boomers offered Morrison more for his 
land than it was worth for growing seed, he sold his 
farm and the Government abandoned its station. As 
had been the case with the Nebraska experiments of 
ten years before, the benefits of the advance which 
had been made were lost. 



58 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 



That the Washington seed was constant and con- 
tinued to yield superior results is shown by the Gov- 
ernment records for six years, as embodied in the 
following tables from "Progress of the Beet Sugar 
Industry in the United States" in 1909, issued by 
the Department of Agriculture: 

TABLE I.— RELATIVE PERFORMANCE OF SUGAR-BEET 
VARIETIES FOR THE ENTIRE SIX-YEAR PERIOD 
COVERED BY THE TESTS 



Designation 

o£ Variety 

Tested. 



Morrison. . . . 

Original 

Breustedt . . . 

Mette 

Schreiber. . . . 

Braune 

Heine. ...... 

Utah 

Hcerning. . . . 

Jaensch 

Dippe 

Kuhn 



Arranged by Stations. 



Roots 
Tons 
per 
acre. 



Sugar. 



Per 
Cent. 



Lbs. 
per 
acre. 



5,011 

4,847 
4,664 

4,675 
4,632 
4,635 
4,608 

4,597 
4,547 
4,506 
4,452 
4,333 



Standing 

of 
Variety 
Tested. 



I 
2 
4 

3 
6 

5 
7 
8 

9 

10 
II 

12 



Arranged by Years. 



Roots 
Tons 
per 
acre. 



13 40 
12.49 
12. 69 
12.56 
12. 17 
12.74 
11.98 
12.09 
12.51 

11-93 
11.86 

11-54 



Sugar. 



Per 
Cent. 



16.53 
17.14 
16.36 
16.31 
17.03 
16.15 
16.70 
16.70 
16.15 
16.44 
16.67 
16.87 



Lbs. 
per 
acre. 



4,325 
4,206 
4,078 
4,007 
4,041 
4,031 
3,894 
3,962 

3,911 
3,839 
3,864 
3,821 



Standing 

of 
Variety 
Tested. 



I 
2 

3 
6 

4 
5 
9 
7 
8 
II 

10 

12 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



59 



TABLE XL— RELATIVE STANDING, BY vSTATIONS AND 
BY YEARS, OF SUGAR-BEET VARIETIES TESTED 
FOR ALL YEARS 



Arranged by Stations. 



Morrison 

Origins! 

Breustedt 

Mette 

Schreiber 

Braune 

Heine 

Utah 

Hoerning 

Jaensch 

Dippe 

Kuhn 

Designation of 
Variety Tested. 

Morrison 

Original 

Breustedt 

Mette 

Schreiber 

Braune 

Heine 

Utah 

Hoerning 

Jaensch 

Dippe 

Kuhn 

*The Mette and 
Union, Oregon. 



/ 
4 
3 

ID 
II 

12 



4 

2 

5 
II 
I 
6 
3 
9 

12 
10 






2; 






I 
2 

9 

5* 

10 

4 

8 

5* 
II 

3 

7 

12 



■^ < 
P 



2 
I 

3 

7 

12 

5 
4 
6 

9 

10 

II 

8 






Arranged by Years. 



1304 


1905 


1906 


1907 


1908 


1909 


I 


7 


I 


I 


2 


6 


3 


3 


2 


4 


I 


3 


9 


2 


5 


2 


6 


8 


10 


12 


4 


6 


4 


5 


2 


6 


6 


12 


3 


2 


4 


4 


9 


3 


7 


7 


6 


5 


7 


II 


9 


9 


7 


9 


10 


5 


8 


4 


II 


10 


3 


7 


10 


12 


12 


13 


8 


8 


II 


I 


5 


I 


II 


10 


12 


10 


8 


II 


12 


9 


5 


11 



All Yrs. 



I 

2 

3 
6 

4 

5 

9 

7 

8 

II 

10 

12 



the Utah varieties have the same relative standing at 



60 SUGAR-BEET SEED 



SEED GROWING IN CALIFORNIA 

Some years ago J. B. Agnew & Company, of Agnew, 
California, near San Francisco, produced commercial 
seed for several seasons, but the enterprise did not 
meet with success and was abandoned. C. C. Morse 
& Company also gave the work a thorough test, but 
were unable to produce seed successfully. At Oxnard, 
in southern California, the American Beet Sugar 
Company conducted extensive experiments in seed 
growing for a number of years, but finally gave up 
the effort. 

The main trouble in California is that such a large 
percentage of the mother beet seed is liable to go to 
seed the first year. While some years but 5 per cent, 
of the seed would develop seed stalks the first season, 
other years, under identical cultural conditions, 80 
per cent, would develop seed stalks the first year. 
This inconsistency is attributed to the average uni- 
form temperature, which does not insure a complete 
check of the selected mother beets during the winter. 

To overcome this difficulty, specially constructed 
siloes for the mothers were prepared and the mothers 
were planted at various dates, but the effort did not 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 61 

succeed. Nevertheless, experiments still are being 
conducted in that state, both by sugar companies and 
by the U. S. Department of Agriculture. ^ 



SEED GROWING IN UTAH AND IDAHO 

In 1899 the Utah Sugar Company began experi- 
menting with sugar-beet seed culture at Lehi, and since 
has planted fromx 5 to 20 acres to mother beets yearly. 
Since 1907 this company also has grown from 10 
to 30 acres yearly at Sugar City, Idaho. Originally, 
the work was conducted by Mr. C. A. Granger, sub- 
sequently under Mr. Mark Austin, Agricultural Super- 
intendent of the company. The quahty of the seed 
was excellent; the main difficulty experienced was in 
keeping the mother beets through the winter. Large 
sums of money were expended in trying to make the 
enterprise a success, but it was not until 191 2, when 
Mr. W. K. Winterhalter, who represented the Russian 
sugar-beet seed firm of Buszczynski & Lazynski, 
became associated with the enterprise, that the work 
assumed commercial proportions, since which time the 
production has been greatly increased, now amounting 
to 10,000 to 15,000 bags annually. 



62 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

In both sugar content and germination, the results 
secured from this seed are equal to those obtained 
from the best imported seed. 

SUGAR BEET SEED EXPERIMENTS IN SOUTH 
DAKOTA 

The Agricultural Experiment Station of South 
Dakota, in which state no beet-sugar factory has as yet 
been erected, has been experimenting with sugar beet 
culture since 1888 and with the development of Amer- 
ican strains of sugar beet seed, since 1891. In a bulle- 
tin,* which reviews the work of the station since 1888, 
it is stated that they found no pure strains of commer- 
cial seed that would give uniform tonnage or percentages 
of sugar, but that on the contrary, beets grown from the 
best varieties of seed gave beets which "differed from 
one another by 10 per cent sugar in the beet.'^ There 
was also a great difference in the purity of the beet and 
in the tonnage yield per acre. 

By making selections the average sugar content of 

* Sugar Beet Culture in South Dakota. Results to Date, 
Bulletin No. 142, by James H. Shepard, Chemist, Department of 
Chemistry, Agricultural Experiment Station, South Dakota 
State College of Agriculture and Mechanic Arts, Brookings, S. D., 
January, 1913. 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 63 

the beet was raised 3 per cent in the first generation 
produced from Dakota seed, and in later selections, 
while all beets were rejected which did not analyze 
higher in sugar than did the highest' at the beginning 
of the experiments, and higher than the average of all 
the commercial beets grown in the United States, the 
rejections amounted to but 3.4 per cent of the beets 
tested. No rows of beets in which every beet was tested 
averaged less than 20 per cent sugar, the highest aver- 
age for any row was 21.5 per cent and the highest 
individual beet tested, contained 25.4 per cent sugar. 

It is obvious that if by selection, the poorer quaHty 
of seed which we are using be eliminated, and from the 
superior types of foreign elite seed, strains of high ton- 
nage, high sugar content and high purity beets be bred, 
the reduction in the farm.ers cost of producing beets 
and the factory cost of producing sugar would be mate- 
rially reduced. In fact, even with our high wage rates, 
it might so revolutionize costs as to make this the cheap- 
est beet-sugar producing country in the world. 

The following from South Dakota, Bulletin No. 142, 
indicates the results which m^ay be attained by beginning 
at the foundation and breeding pure American strains of 
sugar beet seed: 



64 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

"This year (1891) also saw the beginning of raising sugar beet 
seed from analyzed mother beets. A small quantity of seed from 
several varieties was grown. When planted the next year the 
beets grown gave a promising increase over the mothers planted 
for seed. In some instances 3 per cent more sugar was found. 
Thus by selection a 15 per cent beet was raised to 18 per cent. 
This is mentioned here, since this small beginning has borne fruit 
in the splendid achievements of the present time. . . . 

"The object of the new work was to breed up strains of sugar 
beets in which the individuals should give uniformly high sugar 
percentages, while the beets should be large enough to make a 
profitable tonnage for the farmer. 

"The first year of this work in co-operation with the Bureau of 
Plant Industry (U. S. Department of Agriculture), Dr. Townsend 
secured 26 different varieties of sugar beet and stock beet seeds. 
The sugar beet seed was from the best American and foreign 
growers who were furnishing our factories with commercial seed. 

"Each variety was planted and when ripe the variety was har- 
vested and the beets, after a thorough sorting for shape, type and 
size, were siloed in a cool cellar. Later they were all brought 
to the laboratory and each beet was analyzed separately. Any 
sugar beet that failed to have 15 per cent sugar in the beet this 
year was rejected. This severe culling process left good beets 
of proper form and size with at least a good commercial per cent 
of sugar. Some varieties were thrown out entirely. And of the 
beets saved in the field in some varieties the number of rejected 
beets were small, in others it amounted to as much as 20 per cent. 

"We were unable at this time to cull closer than this. But 
some varieties gave one or two beets out of the whole number 
analyzed that went up to 20 per cent sugar in the beet, and one 
gave 24.8 per cent sugar. These few best ones were planted sep- 
arately and sacked so they self-fertilized, thus giving us the begin- 
nings of new strains. 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 65 

"But one thing became immediately apparent, and that was 
that there were no pure strains of sugar beet seed in the country 
that would give uniform percentages among the individuals of 
any variety. In even the best varieties individuals were found 
that differed fiom one another by lo per cent sugar in the beet. 
The enormous waste that would ensue from using such seed may 
be readily imagined. The poor beets cost just as much to grow 
as the good ones and they reduced the profits of both farmer and 
manufacturer. . . . 

**In 1908, 21 more varieties of seed were secured and treated 
as the first 26. . . . The number rejected on a 15 per cent basis 
ranged all the way from 50 per cent to 100 per cent. In 1909 we 
were busy propagating and testing out not only the main lots of 
beets and seed grown during the past two years, but owing to an 
early freeze in October we were able to give the first 26 varieties 
grown as severe a culling as we had given the seeds planted the 
previous year. . . . The culling was most severe, the rejects often 
constituted over half the beets analyzed. But this has proven a 
blessing in disguise. But we commenced to see for the first time 
that we had made substantial gains in reducing the variation 
between individuals of the same strain. The variation of 10 per 
cent had been reduced in most cases to 5 per cent or 6 per cent. 
In only a very few cases did it rise to 8 per cent, while in some 
cases it had dropped to 3 per cent or 4 per cent. The mother 
beets averaged about 1 5 per cent sugar in the beet. 

*'In 1910 we continued the work, analyzing, selecting, and test- 
ing out the new strains of mothers and seed we had grown. . . . 
Upwards of 4000 beets were analyzed and classified. Up to this 
time that work has borne no fruit. But when we came to select 
our mother beets after analysis we made the satisfactory dis- 
covery that the individual variation between beets of the same 
variety was rapidly disappearing. On the basis of 1 5 per cent the 
rejects had dwindled down to an average of only 3.4 per cent for 



66 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

all varieties. The lowest per cent rejected on account of low 
sugar content was 0.9 per cent, and the highest was 7.0 per cent. 
When we consider that when these same strains at their last 
selection required the rejection of around 50 per cent and over, 
it needs no erudition to discover the remarkable progress made. 
Also we made the largest number of individual analyses this 
year that has been made in this work. This year the mother 
beets averaged over 17 per cent sugar in the beet. This fact 
marked another distinct advance in our quest for a high and uni- 
form percentage of sugar. 

"For 191 1, owing to the fact that we now had some very good 
strains well on their way toward our ideals, other phases of the 
work are undertaken. ... In analyzing beets for mothers we 
were able to reject all under 18 per cent sugar in the beet this year. 
Here is a mighty advance. With this high standard the reject 
per cent was low, running around 10 per cent or under. In no 
variety did the per cent sugar in the beet as determined by a 
composite analysis in which every beet in the row was analyzed 
fall below 20 per cent. The highest average was 21.5 per cent; 
even the rejects averaged well over 15 per cent. 

"We have been looking all these years for a sugar beet 
that will give 25 per cent sugar in the beet. And this year 
we not only found several that were that high but we surely 
caught a big one, 25.4 per cent. Perhaps they grow richer. We 
do not know. 

"As for tonnage, the different varieties gave from 20 to 24 
tons per acre. Owing to the great interest at this time there is 
appended a table giving a summary of the results secured along 
commercial lines during 191 1 and 191 2. The table is self-explan- 
atory. The pounds of sugar per acre were calculated by weighing 
the topped beets. Then this weight was multiplied by the per 
cent sugar in the beet. In factory practice around 4 per cent of 
the sugar in the beet is not recovered as sugar. Some of it goes 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



67 



to molasses. The molasses is worked up into alcohol and other 
valuable products. 



TABLE I 

Variety Tests of Sugar Beets for 191 i 





-d 


•0 


T) 












^ 




to V 








c 




c 






























^1. 


y 


<U rt <" 


>^ 


C t, 


lis 


||g 


!5^ 


6< 


6< 


g-<. 


^m 


iw-, 


3 


ic^m 


§m< 


gc3< 


> 


"Z 


"Z 


Q 


a. 


Oh 


p^ 


c2 


a. 


35 


5 


248 


267 


19.6 


17. 1 


88 


16.3 


31.015 


4o5o 


40 


7 


368 


354 


19.6 


17.0 


87 


16.2 


26,515 


3,865 


42 


6 


288 


297 


19.8 


17.6 


89 


16.7 


32,016 


4,812 


43 


6 


326 


307 


20.4 


17.9 


89 


17.0 


32,894 


5,031 


44 


6 


317 


303 


20.3 


17.9 


8S 


17.0 


32,665 


4.797 



Variety Tests for 191 





Width 

of 
Row. 


142 


115 


24.0 


21 .0 


88 


20.0 


46,379 




35 


18 


8,532 


42 


18 


158 


112 


24.4 


22.0 


90 


20.9 


45,173 


8,497 


43 


18 


146 


118 


24-5 


22 .0 


88 


20.9 


47.593 


8,962 


44 


18 


138 


lOI 


254 


22.6 


89 


21-5 


40,737 


7.782 


18S 


18 


120 


106 


25.6 


23.2 


91 


22.0 


42,753 


8.653 


21S 


18 


132 


106 


24.6 


22.0 


89 


20.9 


42,753 


8,025 


SDi 


18 


143 


III 


24.2 


21.4 


S8 


20.3 


44.766 


8,268 



"Our rejects from the mother beet analyses will give a higher 
per cent than the average of all the commercial beets grown in 



68 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

this country. California has the highest per cent sugar in the beet 
of any state where they are grown commercially, 18.54 per cent 
while her tonnage is 10.72." 



SINGLE-GERM BEET BALLS 

In forming beet seed nature seems to have been 
perverse, in that while she compels us to plant several 
seeds in a place and thus starts the beetlets in cluster, 
they cannot be grown to advantage in clusters. We 
plant four kernels of corn in a hill, but the beet re- 
quires that its nearest neighbor shall be 8 inches 
removed. The several peas which grow in a pod 
easily are separated and can be planted singly, but the 
several beet-seed germs which grow in a beet-ball 
cannot be separated. 

The ball in which beet seed is incased is a hard, 
woody, fibrous substance and was placed there by 
nature for the purpose of allowing moisture, etc., to 
enter by osmosis in proper proportions so as to reg- 
ulate the germination of the plant. 

These balls contain from i to 7 distinct seeds or 
germs, with an average germination of 3J plants 
per ball. The consequence is that in order to leave 
but one plant every eight inches in the row, when 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



69 




Developing Single-germ Beet Seed 
Plant that has been covered with muslin bags upon a. frame of wire 
netting. Many of the racemes have grown through the meshes of the 
netting. 



70 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

the plants appear above the ground and show their 
third leaf, all superfluous plants must be pulled up, 
care being exercised that the remaining plants be 
injured as little as possible. At best, the shock is 
so severe that the remaining plants wither and lie 
flat on the ground for several hours after being thinned. 
In addition to the injury to the plants, thinning is a 
slow, expensive, back-aching task which must be done 
by hand. 

Several years ago it was proposed to plant the 
beet-balls in paper tubes in a seed-bed, thin them while 
the tubes still were on trays, convey the trays to the 
field and plant the tubes, much as tobacco plants 
are planted. Because of the attendant expense, this 
method never passed the experimental stage. 

Then a machine was invented which twisted up 
beet-balls, one in a place, at given distances within 
a continuous narrow roll of paper, which could be 
unwound from a field implement which made a trench, 
laid the paper roll and covered it with earth as the 
machine was drawn across the field. But the inventor 
overlooked the fact that each beet-ball contained 
several germs, hence his proposed method did not 
obviate the necessity of thinning on hands and knees. 

About the same time, a German seed grower tried 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



71 




Type of Seed Beet Ready to Harvest 



72 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

to obviate the necessity ol thinning, by passing the 
seed-balls through a grater and cracking them into 
several parts. Some of this cracked seed was placed 
on the American market, but did not give satisfactory 
results. The drawbacks to this method were both 
numerous and serious. Some of the seed germs were 
destroyed in the cracking machine. Others were ex- 
posed and the function of the beet-ball to regulate 
the germination was destroyed. The oxalates in the 
beet-ball did not perform their function of protecting 
the young plant from its micro-enemies. And finally, 
unless a large portion of the germs were ruined, it was 
impossible so to crack the balls but that many of the 
pieces contained more than one germ and the field 
had to be thinned as usual. 

With these experiments in mind, the writer cracked 
open and examined thousands of beet-seed balls and 
finally concluded that the only manner in which 
the desired result might be attained would be to breed 
a single-germ beet-ball. If the botanists could change 
the whole nature of the beet's seeding habit and induce 
it to become a biennial instead of an annual, why 
could they not change its habit of growing more than 
one seed in a ball. 

The value of such a seed scarcely could be measured 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



73 




74 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

in dollars. Not only was the thinning expensive, but 
careful German experiments had shown that unless 
beets were thinned at exactly the right time, the loss 
in tonnage, due to the injury to the remaining beetlet 
by reason of puUing up the superfluous plants, was 
very great. One German experiment conducted on 
four plots of ground where all conditions of seed, soil 
and care, except the time of thinning, were the same, 
had given the following results: 

Plot No. I, thinned at the right time, yielded 15 tons of beets. 

2, " one week later, 13I " " " 

3, " still one week later 10 " " " 

4, ' ' still another week later 7 " '' " 

Now if the very womb of the seed germ could be so 
changed as to contain but one germ instead of several, 
a single seed could be planted in a place, the cost of 
the hand work of thinning could be saved and the 
tonnage would be increased from 25 to 40 per cent., 
for beets rarely, if ever, are thinned at just the right 
moment. Even when they are, the shock caused 
by removing the intertwined roots is severe. With 
but one beetlet growing in a place, they would be 
entirely free from shock. 

To insure a good stand, the beet-balls could be 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



75 




Beet-seed Stem 
Mounted on board 21X42 inches. 



76 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

dropped in the rows, one inch or two inches apart and 
the superfluous plants could be removed with a hoe 
at the farmers' leisure, without injury to the remaining 
plants. To insure sufficient power to break through 
a crusted surface in sections where showers were 
likely and the soil was caked, oats could be drilled in 
with the beet seed, or the crust could be broken w^ith 
the proper agricultural implements. 

Inasmuch as the average yield in the United States 
is but lo tons per acre, while a perfect stand of 2-pound 
beets planted in rows i8 inches apart and thinned to 
8 inches, would yield 43 tons per acre, the chance for 
materially increasing the tonnage is very great. 

The suggestion met with no encouragement from 
sugar men; they did not believe it possible to breed 
a single-germ beet-ball. But the mom.ent the writer 
broached the subject to Secretary of Agriculture Wilson, 
he became enthusiastic over it, declaring that it not 
only was possible, but probable, and within twenty- 
four hours, a bevy of Department clerks was at work 
sorting out single-germ beet-balls from commercial 
seed. 

The only mark on beet-balls which indicates the 
presence of seed is an almost imperceptible flattening 
directly over each seed pocket. The entire surface 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



77 




Developing Single-germ Beet Seed 
Two extremely diverse terminals of seed stems, 



78 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

of each little beet-ball had to be examined minutely. 
From between 400,000 and 500,000 beet-balls 
40CO singles were secured, the exact proportion 
of singles being 0.98 of one per cent, of the balls 
examined. 

The writer had reasoned that because of the fact 
that the ball which enclosed a single was more than 
one-half the size of that enclosing a double, and that 
of a double was more than two-thirds the size of a 
three-germ ball, the less the number of seeds a ball 
contained, the larger would be their breakfast. His 
boyhood recollection was that the sow that raised the 
smallest litter, raised the biggest pigs, but he was 
told that his reasoning could not be applied to sugar- 
beet seed and that vitality would have to be bred into 
the plants after the single germ characteristic should 
have become fixed. 

This was in the early spring of 1903, and in due 
course the singles were planted on the Arlington 
Experimental Farm of the Department of Agriculture, 
near Washington. The germination was favorable, 
and contrary to the predictions of the botanists, the 
vitality of the plants was abnormally high, the highest 
of any sugar-beet seed ever grown by the Department. 
At the close of the season about 1000 beets grown from 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



79 



the single-germ seed were selected and siloed for 
the next season's planting. 

In the spring of 1904 the single-germ ''mothers" 
were shipped by express and by post, to Lehi, Utah. 




Developing Single-glrm Sugar-beet Seed 
Flower stalks possessing only single flowers, covered with paper bags to 
prevent cross pollination 



Drs. C. O. Townsend and E. C. Rittue, Pathologist 
and Assistant Pathologist, Department of Agriculture, 
had been placed in direct charge of the work and upon 
arrival of the mothers they were planted 3X3 feet. 



80 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 



Sugar Beef Root Sysfem 




840AY5 
AFTERPLANTING 



Ground 



301N.L. 



Root System of Commercial Sugar Beets 

It is estimated that one ton of fibrous roots per acre remains in the 

ground after the main root has been harvested. 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 81 

Only two of the plants set out failed to live and less 
than I per cent, failed to produce seed stalks. 

Fifty of the plants which possessed the highest 
number of single flowers were selected for poUination 
purposes. In the work of pollination, single flowers 
were covered with paper bags in order to protect them 
from the pollen of other beet-flowers, a ndthe branches 
which bore multiple flowers were removed. While open- 
ing the flowers with a needle or scalpel in order to cross- 
fertilize them, a tent was erected to surround both 
plant and operator and protect the flowers at such times 
against stray pollen that might be floating in the air. 

After the flowers were treated and covered with 
paper bags, the entire plant was covered with a cloth 
bag in order that the paper bags might not be blown 
off. Each plant was carefully examined from time 
to time to remove the superfluous growth that was 
forced from the nodes as a result of the excessive trim- 
ming due to removing the branches which bore multiple 
flowers. As soon as the seed had set, the paper bags 
were removed, but the cloth bags remained over the 
plants until the seed ripened. 

The seed ripened in August and that from each of 
the polHnated plants, and the other plants which 
showed the greatest number of singles, was gathered 



82 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 









<u 


^^ 








,13 


d 




hJ 




u 


M 




< 




•3 


t« 




D 




CO 


a> 




« 

§ 

§ 




o 


3 




^ 


T3 


C/3 
T3 




O 


^ 


c 


<L> 




o 


t:) 


.3 


."ti 






o 




G 




g 


^ 


^ 


P 




p 


o 


-n 


<u 




^ 




^ 




o 


H 


c3 


•3 






P 


a -d 




C/3 

H 

W 


o 
w 

< 


03 






pq 


c/T 




(U 




rt 




.3 


W) 




<; 
o 


00 


ti 




p^ 


M 


^ 




fa 


P^ 


1 






o 


>< 


rt 






o 


_g 


> 




PM 


H 




< 




t^H 


u 


T3 






H 


^2 




oJ 




12; 


P< 


-in 






^ 


O 
fa 


"Hh 


03 




p< 




t« 


>H 




< 
> 

hJ 
w 
p 




^ 


^ 




O 


3 


C 

2 


tfl 




ij 


O 


fO 


a 


^ 


< 

§ 


cx 


''i^ 


2 


>< 


(N 


S 


t^ 


< 


l-H 


"o 




H 




t/3 




2 




a 


w 


w 


o 


c^ 


H 

fa 
o 


f^ 


l-H 


o 


O 


o 








.3 


H 




< 


r^ 


tfl" 



'^ CI 

.3 2 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 83 

separately. Owing to the method of pollination, it 
was impossible to determine what proportion of the 
seed-balls of the pollinated plants were single. Of 
the other plants, the highest, or number 51, yielded 25 
per cent, single-germ balls and the next 10 averaged 
17 per cent, singles. 

In 1905 the best plant yielded slightly over 50 per 
cent, singles, two plants yielded between 49 and 50 
per cent., several exceeded 40 per cent, and many ex- 
ceeded 30 per cent. 

The third generation yielded about the same as the 
second. In the fourth generation some of the plants 
yielded 60 to 70 per cent, singles, two produced as high 
as 80 per cent, and one produced 85 per cent, singles. 
The very high plants proved to be weaklings and 
eventually died without producing further results. 

The work was interrupted during 1913 and 1914, but 
fortunately, samples of nearly all the seed which had 
shown promising results in 191 2 have been saved. 
The best plants with which the Department now is 
working yielded 60 to 70 per cent, singles. 

In addition to the production of single-germ plants, 
the Department is conducting with this experiment 
a number of investigations in regard to weight and 
quality of seed, as wtU as in regard to the quality 



84 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

of roots produced from singles as compared with those 
produced from multiple germ seeds. 

No doubt is expressed but that the single germ 
characteristic will become fixed, but as to how soon 
and as to how much of a tendency there will be to 
revert, only can be determined by further investi- 
gations and the lapse of time. 

Note. For further details of this work, see "Single-Germ 
Beet-Balls and Other Suggestions for Improving Sugar-Beet 
Culture/' by Truman G. Palmer, in "Progress of the Beet-Sugar 
Industry" in 1902, U. S. Department of Agriculture; "The 
Development of Single-germ Beet Seed," by C. O. Townsend 
and E. C. Rittue, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Bulletin 
No. 73, 1905; "Progress of the Beet-Sugar Industry" in 1908, 
U. S. Department of Agriculture. 

SUGAR-BEET SEED SITUATION IN 1914, 1915 
AND 1916 

The present annual seed requirements of American 
beet-sugar companies are about 150,000 bags of no 
pounds each, practically all of which is imported from 
Europe, mostly from Germany. During the last 5 pre- 
war years these imports amounted to nearly 60,000,000 
pounds, for which there was paid about $4,500,000. 
The bulk of this seed was supplied by one Austrian 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT §5 

and five German growers, with whom advance con- 
tracts were placed for several years for a given quantity 
of seed per year, to be delivered as required and paid 
for in the usual course of business. With the out- 
break of war in Europe, all was changed and ever 
since August, 1914, the question of securing an ade- 
quate supply of sugar-beet seed has been the uppermost 
thought in the minds of domestic beet-sugar producers. 
It w^as a particularly unfortunate time to be cut off 
from the usual seed supply, as seed stocks in this country 
never before had been so low. The average New York 
wholesale price of granulated sugar for the year 1913 
had dropped to 4.278 cents per pound, the lowest in 
history, and in that year Congress had provided that 
the import duty en foreign sugar should be abolished 
May I, 1916, which would still further lower the price 
of the product. Discouraged at the gloomy outlook, 
company managements had allowed their seed supply 
to decline and when war was declared and the price 
of sugar immediately began to recover, some beet 
sugar companies did not have a bag of seed on hand 
for their 191 5 planting, others had only a small supply, 
only a few were well provided. The quantity of home- 
grown seed was negligible and without seed the fac- 
tories would remain idle. 



86 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

It at once became impossible for American beet-sugar 
companies to secure shipments of seed without first 
depositing the money in Rotterdam against bills of 
lading. To secure the seed, it became necessary for 
the American beet-sugar producers to send two of 
their number to Rotterdam, prepared to disburse 
some i^8oo,ooo to the various growers, as the seed 
arrived, and to arrange for its shipment to the United 
States. Shipping facilities and other complications 
were such that several months' effort of the committee 
was required in order to secure sufficient seed for the 

19 1 5 planting. 

In 19 1 5 the quantity of German seed desired for 

19 16 planting in the United States amounted in value 
to 3,500.000 marks, and the German Government 
having placed an embargo on the export of sugar-beet 
seed, notified its growers that the only condition upon 
which the seed could be exported was that the United 
States first should land foodstuffs or cotton at a Ger- 
man port, to the value of the seed to be exported. 

As Great Britain had blockaded German ports and 
would not recede from her position, the seed situa- 
tion with American beet-sugar factories became still 
more acute and from that time until late in 191 7, the 
executive officer of the industry's national association, 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 87 

together with his staff of office assistants, devoted their 
time incessantly to the work of securing a sufficient 
supply of seed to operate the American factories. 

With every nation to be dealt with plunged into war, 
diplomatic relations strained, commercial operations up- 
set, transportation facihties in a chaotic condition and 
devoted almost exclusively to conveying troops and 
munitions of war, the maze of red tape w^hich was en- 
countered both in Washington and in foreign capitals 
in securing export permits, the proper preparation and 
filing of indemnity bonds guaranteeing that the seed 
would not be reexported, the securing of British safe 
sea permits and latterly the securing of ocean bottoms 
in which to ship the seed from Russia was all but 
endless. 

A meager 15,000 bags was secured from Germany 
''as a special consideration to the United States." 
Germany designated the companies and the quantity 
of seed w^hich each should receive. Although this 
seed was furnished under the then existing contracts 
at 8 cents per pound, in such desperate need of seed 
were some American companies which did not par- 
ticipate in the distribution, that they paid their more 
fortunate competitors as high as S65 a bag for their 
surplus seed. It appearing that no more seed could 



88 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

be secured from either Germany or Austria, a 
trusted agent was dispatched to Russia. When 
the Russian seed growers learned of the situation, 
the price of Russian seed immediately rose to 
three times its usual value and most of the 
growers demanded full payment for the seed before 
leaving their shipping stations, which are located in 
the vicinity of Kieff. Although these stations are 
6000 miles from the port of Vladivostok, with 
which they were connected by a single-track rail- 
way which already was congested with war munition 
freight and often was closed for weeks to commercial 
freights^ American sugar factories assumed the risk 
and forwarded a million and a half dollars to Russia 
without any positive assurance that the seed could 
be brought out. After months of negotiations and 
vexatious delays, the beed began to move and all of 
it reached this country within a year from the time 
it was purchased. 

The desperate quest for seed brought to mind more 
vividly than ever before the absolute dependence of 
the domestic beet-sugar industry on foreign countries. 
This resulted in the production of an increased amount 
of home-grown seed in 191 5, the planting of a con- 
siderable area in 19 16 and the formation of plans to 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 89 

increase the production from year to year, with the 
view of eventually making the industry independent 
of foreign countries for its seed supply. 

IMPORTANCE OF DOMESTIC SUGAR-BEET SEED 
PRODUCTION 

The increasing and now vital importance of pro- 
ducing in the United States the sugar-beet seed for its 
domestic requirements is recognized by the U. S. 
Department of Agriculture and by Congress, as is 
evidenced by the fact that the appropriation bill of 
the Department of Agriculture now carries an annual 
appropriation of $10,000 for experimental work with 
sugar-beet seed. 

The views of the Department are set forth quite 
fully in the Department's 191 6 Year Book by Dr. 
C. O. Townsend, Pathologist in Charge of Sugar- 
Beet Investigations, Bureau of Plant Industry, from 
which the following extracts are reproduced : 

Owing to the disturbed agricultural and trade conditions in 
Europe since August, 1914, the importance of developing an 
American beet-seed industry of sufficient magnitude to meet our 
requirements has become imperative. The united efforts of the 
Department of Agriculture and the Department of State, co- 



90 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

operating with the beet-sugar companies, after encountering 
many difficulties succeeded in securing sufficient beet seed, with 
the surplus then on hand, to meet the planting requirements in 
191 5; but the combined efforts of those agencies failed to secure 
sufficient seed to meet the requirements in 191 6, with the result 
that thousands of farmers were deprived of the benefits of this 
crop, a number of mills were idle, and consequently the capital 
invested, amounting to several million dollars, was unproductive. 

The present seed requirements of the beet-sugar industry in 
this country are annually not less than 150,000 sacks of no pounds 
each. In order to insure this quantity of seed it would be neces- 
sary to have not less than 16,000 acres devoted to seed pro- 
duction; less than one-fourth of this acreage was harvested in 
1 9 16. Seven new mills were erected during 19 16 and plans 
are under way for a still larger number in 191 7. Assuming the 
average capacity of these mills to be 1000 tons of roots a day, 
which is approximately correct, each new mill will require 10,000 
acres of beets for a normal run. To plant 10,000 acres of beets, 
200,000 pounds of seed, the product of approximately 200 acres 
of land, would be required for each mill, not considering the 
necessary replanting. It is apparent, therefore, that the present 
acreage in seed will do little more than care for the possible ex- 
pansion of the beet-sugar industry and that the quantity of 
seed which must be imported will remain approximately the 
same as heretofore. 

The beet-sugar industry in the United States is composed of 
three distinct branches, namely, beet-seed production, sugar- 
beet growing, and beet-sugar extraction and refining. They are 
so hnked that each is dependent upon the others, not only for 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 91 

its complete success, but for its existence. Without seed the 
sugar-beet industry, in which more than 70,000 American farmers 
are directly interested, could not exist, and without beets the 
84 beet-sugar mills now standing, with an invested capital of 
more than $100,000,000, would be idle. The beet-seed industry 
is, of course, the foundation upon which sugar-beet growing and 
beet-sugar extraction rests. Because of its fundamental char- 
acter, it is surprising that sugar-beet seed production in this 
country has not received more general and more earnest atten- 
tion in the past. The two primary causes that have operated 
against the development of the sugar-beet seed industry in this 
country were (i) the fact that a sufficient quantity of seed to 
meet our requirements was easily obtainable from European 
countries at a reasonable price and (2) the prevailing idea that 
conditions in this country, from the standpoint either of labor 
cost or of climate, would not permit the successful development 
of the seed industry in the United States. Recent experiences, 
however, have shown the folly of depending upon foreign coun- 
tries for our beet-seed supply, while experiments extending 
over many years have proved the falsity of the opinion relative 
to labor and chmatic conditions. 

Progress in American Sugar-beet Seed Production 

The earliest efforts toward sugar-beet culture in this country, 
in 1830, were made with seed brought from Europe. When the 
first permanent beet-sugar mill was established in America, 
in 1879, European seed was used to produce the raw material, 
and even at the present time, with nearly 80 mills in operation, 



92 SUCxAR-BEET SEED 

requiring upward of 750,000 acres of beets to insure satisfactory 
runs, farmers are still depending upon foreign countries for the 
major portion of their seed. It is true, efforts have been made 
in certain quarters for many years to produce sugar-beet seed 
in this country, but prior to 1914 they were largely experimental. 
The first carefully planned effort to grow sugar-beet seed in the 
United States was made at Schuyler, Neb., in 1891. These ex- 
periments were continued for several years under the direction 
of Dr. Harvey W. Wiley, at that time chief of the Bureau of 
Chemistry of the United States Department of Agriculture. 
The results with this seed, in comparison with imported vari- 
eties, showed that the American-grown seed had a higher vitality 
and that the roots produced from this seed possessed a higher 
sugar content and gave heavier yield than any of the imported 
varieties tested. 

For a number of years the United States Department of Agri- 
culture conducted experiments in sugar-beet seed growing at 
Fairfield, Wash., with results similar to those obtained at Schuyler, 
Neb., with reference to both the vitality of the seed and the quality 
and weight of roots produced. For many years several sugar 
companies have grown small quantities of commercial sugar- 
beet seed, and within the past year two of these beet-sugar 
companies have greatly increased their beet -seed acreage. In 
some cases the roots used for this purpose have been produced 
from the commercial imported seed, while in other instances 
special seed was used. The results of these tests have been 
successful from the standpoint of germination of the seed and 
the yield and quality of the roots produced. While there is 
abundant proof, therefore, that sugar-beet seed satisfactory in 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 93 

every particular can be grown in this country, few, if any, dis- 
tinct American strains of sugar beets have been estabHshed and 
used for commercial beet-seed production. All experience in 
breeding and selection in this and in other lines would indicate 
that such strains when properly established and thoroughly 
acclimated if generally used for beet producton will yield even 
better results than have been obtained in the experiments already 
carried out. * * * 

Present Problems 

As a result of existing conditions surrounding the sugar-beet 
seed situation in this country two problems are confronting 
the beet growers and sugar producers at this time, namely, the 
production of a sufficient quantity of seed to meet the present 
planting requirements and the estabhshment in this country 
of a permanent beet-seed industry which shall meet our future 
needs. These requirements relate not only to the quantity of 
seed necessary to plant the desired acreage, but also to the qual- 
ity of the seed and the quantity and quahty of the roots which 
this seed is capable of producing. 

******* 

See Farmers' Bulletin No. 52, 1897, by Dr. H. W. Wiley, 

Types of Sugar Beets 

It is a starlhng fact that there are in this country no dis- 
tinct types of commercial sugar beets. If, for example, a field 
of a given variety of wheat is examined it will be noted that 
practically every plant bears a striking resemblance to every 



94 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

other plant in the field, but this is not true of the sugar beet. 
In any commercial sugar-beet field from Michigan to California, 
without regard to the name of the so-called variety, can be found 
from 6 to 20 or more distinct types of beets. Their distinction 
may be based upon shape, texture, habit of growth, color, and 
other characters of the leaf, as well as upon shape, texture, quality, 
etc., of the root. In fact, scarcely two beets growing side by side 
in the same field have closely related external characters of leaf 
or root, and the quality of the roots varies in both sugar and 
purity. 

Equally wide variations may be found in the beet-seed fields, 
especially with reference to habit of growth and yield of seed. 
It would appear, therefore, that these so-called strains are badly 
mixed in the process of growth and production or that many 
strains or varieties are mixed before the seed is sacked. It would 
seem, however, from the large number of wide variations in 
the individual beets produced from commercial seed, that the 
mixed strains or varieties appearing in commercial fields are due 
more to the method of growth than to artificial mixing. It 
may be, and probably is, necessary to have mixed strains, or 
crosses, in order to combine in one plant all the desirable qual- 
ities of weight, sugar, and purity. It would seem, however, 
that little progress can be made in the development of desirable 
strains of beets until the present mixed varieties are separated 
into their component strains and the desirable strains recom- 
bined in their proper relation. It is no more reasonable to sup- 
pose that such a mixture of the present types of sugar beets will 
give the best results in yield and quality of roots than it is to 
assume that the highest results in live-stock production can be 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 95 

reached with mixed breeds of animals. How quickly the Duroc- 
Jersey or Poland China hog is recognized! Farmers might have 
gone on raising "razor backs" and thought they were producing 
pork if these and other distinct types of hogs had not been 
developed. 

It is true that there are some good cows in a mixed herd and 
not all pure breeds are of equal value. Likewise, there are good 
sugar beets in these mixtures that are now called by distinct names 
and not all individuals of a pure type will be of equal value, 
but the average in both quality and yield is far below the Kmit 
of possibiHties, and the highest plane of development of the 
sugar beet will not be reached until distinct strains or types 
are produced and fixed, so that they will come true from year 
to year. It will then be possible to work with the individual 
beet as the unit upon which the quality and yield of roots may 
be based, with a reasonable expectation that material and per- 
manent improvement in quality and yield of roots may be pro- 
duced by eliminating the poorer and less desirable individuals. 
It is not probable that in these pure strains the highest develop- 
ment of both size and quality will be found in any one strain, 
but it is necessary first to have the pure strains and to know 
definitely the characters they possess and are capable of trans- 
mitting before the necessary steps can be taken to produce by 
crossing the permanent types in which the roots shall possess 
the desired qualities of sugar, purity, and yield. At the same 
time this line of work should develop seed-producing plants of 
uniform type, with reference to both habit of growth of seed 
stalks and date of maturity of seed. The development of uni- 
form types is of vital importance not only with reference to the 



96 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

yield and quality of roots and seed, but also with reference to the 
cost of production. The first step, therefore, in the develop- 
ment of a permanent beet-seed industry in this country Hes 
in the direction of the development of true types with reference 
to both seed beets and seed production. 



Conclusions 

The highest development of the beet-sugar industry in the 
United States depends upon the establishment of an American 
beet-seed industry capable of meeting the requirements of the 
American sugar-beet grower and the beet-sugar producer. 

Our experience thus far indicates that American sugar-beet 
seed is usually superior in germination and capable of producing 
larger and better roots than the imported seed. 

Our soil and climatic conditions, extending over large areas, 
favor the production of sugar-beet seed in sufficient quantity 
to meet all future requirements. 

Well-defined strains of sugar beets of high yield and quality 
are essential to the development of a satisfactory seed industry. 
Enough has been done to prove that by careful and painstaking 
work such strains can be produced. 

No intelligent study of cultural methods in the production of 
sugar beets or of problems involving a comparison of varieties 
can be made until uniform and fixed varieties with which to 
work are available. 

The production of strains having roots of uniform size and habit 
of growth and capable of yielding seed stalks uniform in habit 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 97 

and growth and maturity should make possible improved cul- 
tural methods, especially in the planting of the roots and in the 
harvesting of the seed, that will reduce greatly the cost of pro- 
duction. 



WORLD PRODUCTION OF SUGAR-BEET SEED 

The twenty million tons of sugar annually produced 
in the world is derived about equally from sugar-beets 
and from sugar-cane. The cane itself provides the 
tops and stalks with which to replant or extend the 
cane area, but beet seed of the best quality can not be 
produced in many of the sugar-beet areas of the 
world, and without such seed, no country can pro- 
duce beet sugar at a profit. 

To produce the 10,000,000 tons of beet-sugar, 20 
countries have invested upwards of one billion dollars 
in the erection of 1350 beet -sugar factories, the first 
requisite for the successful operation of which is an 
adequate supply of high grade sugar-beet seed, without 
which failure would be certain. 

That the production and control of most of this 
seed is vested in less than a dozen wealthy seed growers, 
some of whom employ $20,000,000 in their seed- 
growing operations, all of whom are located in the 
Province of Saxony, the total area of which is less than 



98 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

that of three counties in the State of Ohio, is a fact 
of more than ordinary significance. 

The production of one-half of the world's sugar is 
dependent upon the dicta of a small group of men 
in one country and upon the favorable or unfavorable 
weather conditions which prevail over a few square 
miles of territory. If for any reason this handful of 
growers should decline to furnish seed, or should a 
succession of unfavorable seasons ensue, the beet- 
sugar industry of the world would be prostrated and 
the world would be compelled to reduce its consump- 
tion of sugar until seed could be produced elsewhere. 

Instances are not lacking where great manufacturing 
industries are more or less dependent upon foreign 
countries for some portion of their raw material, but 
for the production of a great food necessity to be 
dependent upon so few men and so small an area 
is without a parallel. 

Selection in plant life dates back thousands of years, 
but Vilmorin originated new and valuable methods 
of selection, as a result of which the French seed for 
many years was the best in the world; as late as 
1837 Vilmorin's seed sold at 25 to 75 cents per pound 
when seed grown in Germany sold at 6j cents per 
pound. 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



99 



As the beet-sugar industry began to spread from 
France to Germany and other countries, they com- 
menced to grow sugar-beet seed, but Germany soon 
put forth such efforts to produce this primary essen- 




P. Louis Leveque de Vilmorin 
First to devise methods for increasing the sugar content of the beet. 



tial to the industry that growers of other countries 
soon were driven from the markets of the world and 
Germany secured a practical monopoly of the busi- 
ness. France, Holland, and Austria still export small 



100 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 




ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 101 

quantities of native seed, but most of their domestic 
requirements are imported from Germany. 

For some years Russian seed growers have pro- 
duced most of the seed for Russia's domestic sowings, 
and recently, a small quantity for export. As soon 
as the Germans realized that seed of as high a quality 
as that produced in Germany could be produced in 
certain sections of a few of the governments of south- 
western Russia where both land and labor were ex- 
ceedingly cheap, the leading German seed growers 
proceeded to acquire large holdings of the choicest 
lands in those sections where they established exten- 
sive seed farms. The scientific work is done in Ger- 
many, where all the selections and tests are made 
with which to produce ehte seed, which latter is shipped 
to Russia and sowed for the commercial crop; this is 
harvested and shipped to Germany and marketed 
from there, either as Russian or as German-grown 
seed. 

Germany and Russia furnish the seed for 90 per 
cent, of all the beet sugar produced in the world; 
69 per cent, of the world crop is from German-grown 
seed; 78 per cent, of all the beet sugar produced out- 
side of Russia and Germany is from German-grown 
seed. 



102 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 




ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 103 

Throughout the world about 6,000,000 acres are 
devoted to sugar beets. Based on an average sov/ing 
of 20 pounds of seed per acre in the United States and 
Canada, 30 pounds in Russia and 25 pounds in all 
other countries, 1,430,000 bags, or 78,650 tons of sugar- 
beet seed are required annually, the value of which 
at the usual pre-war price of 8j cents per pound, 
is $14,000,000. Since the beginning of the war in 
Europe the cost of seed, laid down in the United States 
has risen from $9.35 to $25.00 per bag of no pounds. 

The normal sugar-beet seed crop of Germany is 
621,000 bags, of Russia 660,000 bags, a total of 1,281,000 
bags for the two countries, or 90 per cent, of the total 
production of all countries. While Russia does not 
produce as much sugar as does Germany, its sugar- 
beet area exceeds that of Germany by nearly a half 
million acres and Russia sows 20 per cent, more seed 
to the acre. As a result, most of the seed grown in 
Russia is required for domestic sowing. 

Not including the seed sown in Germany and Russia, 
the annual seed requirements of the world amount 
to about 600,000 bags, of which 470,000 bags or 78 
per cent, is supplied by Germany from its domestic 
product and from the 200,000 bags it grows in, or 
purchases and imports from Russia. 



104 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

Before the war in Europe most of the American 
requirements of sugar-beet seed were purchased in 
Germany. After the outbreak cf hostihties American 
factories failed to secure an adequate supply of seed 
from Germany and turned to Russia, with the result 
that in 1916, 175,000 bags were secured, most of 
which was sowed in the spring of 191 7. For the 1918 
planting, only domestic and Russian seed is available. 

At the present time the beet-sugar world outside of 
the Central Powers and contiguous neutral countries 
is relying solely upon Russia for its imports of sugar- 
beet seed. 

Assuming that the German control of Russian seed 
production does not extend beyond the German im- 
ports of Russian seed, the dependence of the world 
upon German seed in 19 13 was as follows: 

Tons. 
Sugar produced in Germany, from German 

grown seed 3,003,768 

Sugar produced in other countries from German 

grown seed 3,793,365 

Total sugar produced from German grown seed 6,797,133 
Sugar produced in Russia, from Russian 

grown seed 1,918,443 

Sugar produced by seed, other than German 

and Russian 1,067,924 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



105 




106 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 




^ 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



107 




108 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 




M 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 109 



UNITED STATES PRODUCTION OF SUGAR-BEET 

SEED 

For several years past, sugar-beet seed has been 
produced in the United States from imported elite 
seed and even from the seed of commercial beets, 
which is equal in every other respect and higher in 
germinating power than imported seed. The higher 
germinating power of American seed is accounted for 
by the fact that it is freshly grown, whereas, in Europe, 
the seed frequently is a mixture of old and new crops. 

Because of the high price of American farm labor 
the cost of production is greater in the United States 
than in Russia, where most of the field work is done 
by women who work in the fields from daylight to 
dark for an average wage of 17J cents per day, and 
in Germany, where they receive 28J cents per day. 
But because of the higher germinating power of Amer- 
ican seed, an equally good stand of beets can be se- 
cured with less seed per acre and the saving in the 
quantity of seed sown w^ill offset a portion of the 
increased cost per pound. 

Since the difiiculty arose in obtaining foreign seed, 
several American beet-sugar manufacturers have ex- 



110 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

tended their seed sowings and the members of the 
United States Sugar Manufacturers' Association, who 
produce 95 per cent, of all domestic beet-sugar, 
have formed a cooperative seed-growing company 
with a cash capital of $300,000; this company has 
leased a large area of farming land and is now 
operating extensive seed farms in the State of Idaho. 
At a cost of $50,000, the company secured in Europe 
50 bags of pedigreed ''elite" seed which was planted 
in the spring of 19 16. This company also planted 
several thousand tons of mothers, selected from the 
best commercial beets growing in the State of Idaho. 

The Great Western Sugar Company of Denver, 
Colorado, has been experimenting in sugar-beet seed 
growing since 19 10. Since the beginning of the war 
in Europe this company has greatly increased its 
output of seed, which is grown in Colorado, Montana 
and Nebraska. 

A number of the Michigan sugar companies have be- 
gun to raise seed, and are now devoting several hundred 
acres to this crop. CaHfornia sugar companies also 
are devoting some acreage to seed production. As a 
result of these efforts nearly one-fifth of the seed for 
the 1918 United States sowings will be raised at home. 

A large portion of the seed which the cooperative 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 111 

seed company is producing in Idaho is grown from 
the highest pedigreed European ''elite" seed, which 
is imported at a cost of $7.00 to $10.00 per pound. 
It represents the result of the highest skill of the 
European sugar-beet seed growers; has passed all 
the searching physical and chemical examinations and 
is equal to the ehte seed which the European growers 
themselves plant for producing their commercial seed 
in Germany and Russia. The Great Western Sugar 
Company also is importing "ehte" seed for some of 
its plantings. In other cases, selections of mothers 
are made from beets grown from commercial seed. 

However, whether produced from commercial seed 
or from imported "ehte" seed, the effort to grow 
sugar-beet seed in America is as yet httle more than 
an elem.ental proposition, for unless the greatest care 
and attention be given each year to selections, the 
quality of the beets soon begins to deteriorate, when 
a new start must be made from freshly imported seed. 
The character of the seed which we now purchase 
from Europe indicates that commercialism is sadly 
interfering wdth their science in seed production. It 
has been demonstrated that both elite and com- 
mercial foreign seed are mixtures of dift'erent varieties 
of seed or are grown where they cross pollinate with 



112 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

other types of seed grown in nearby fields. In any 
commercial field of beets in this country there can be 
found from six to twenty distinct types of beets, 
varying in shape, texture, habit of growth, color, 
sugar content, purity, etc It is found that when 
these beets are classified according to type and planted 
for seed, they reproduce true to the type of the 
mother. Inasmuch as some types yield better results 
than do others, it necessarily follows that the highest 
general results only can be secured by beginning at 
the very foundation and producing our own elite seed. 
As well expect to secure satisfactory results by mix- 
ing the breed of Jersey, Holstein and Durham cattle 
instead of breeding them separately and building up 
each breed, as to expect to secure maximum results 
in beet culture from a mixture of types of beets. 
Starting with the best elite seed to be had, the result- 
ant beets must be separated and classified according 
to type, the best types must be improved by selection 
and cross breeding from year to year, and from these 
constantly improving and highly developed types, 
produce our commercial seed. Instead of deteriorat- 
ing when planted in this country and allowed to re- 
produce, the new crop of seed frequently has produced 
richer beets than were the mothers from which they 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 113 

sprung. That the effort to improve the beet is worth 
while, is shown by the fact that if from the 6j million 
tons of sugar beets produced by American farmers 
last year, an increased sugar extraction of i per cent 
had been secured, we would have produced 125,000,000 
more pounds of sugar, worth $9,000,000 at present 
wholesale prices. 

Not until America ceases to depend upon Europe for 
the scientific work which produces the ehte seed which 
we import, and builds up distinctly American strains 
of seed, will domestic sugar-beet seed production free 
itself from the domination of Europe and assume the 
appearance of a real American industry, thereby 
relieving the domestic beet-sugar industry from de- 
pendence upon Germany for its existence. 

To secure the highest results, sugar-beet seed cul- 
ture requires the most fertile lands which are to be 
had, as well as years of most careful and scientific 
fertilization and working. Such lands in the vicinity 
of ]\Iagdeburg are held at as high as $1000 per acre. 

Unless precedent estabhshed by nearly a century's 
experience in Europe counts for naught, to estabHsh 
the sugar-beet seed industry in the United States 
means the investment of hundreds of thousands of 
dollars in single-unit farms, each covering several 



114 SUGAR-BEET SEED 

thousand acres, and the carrying on of general farming 
operations in order properly to rotate and build up 
the soil. Vast areas of suitable land are to be had 
in the United States at a fraction of the value of lands 
which are used for this purpose in Europe. On these 
farms thousands of dollars must be expended in 
laboratories and laboratory equipment, in storage 
warehouses and in the multitude of other necessary 
buildings and machinery. To operate these farms suc- 
cessfully means the creation of organizations comprising 
both executive and scientific ability of the highest 
degree. 

Given the proper quantity and quahty of land, 
the equipment and the organization, strains of sugar- 
beet seed will be developed in the United States which 
will surpass the best strains in Europe. The cost per 
pound to produce will be higher than in Europe, but 
the extra cost will be largely offset by the superior 
quahty of the seed, not to mention the benefits the 
country will derive from the estabhshment of a new 
scientific industry and the freeing of the domestic 
beet-sugar industry from dependence upon Europe. 






ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



115 



W 

o 
u 

o 

S 

o ^ 



^ p 



^ '-' 
O CO 

Q 

W ^ 
W S 
^§ 

H P^ 
W 
W Q 

s§ 

< 

o 
o 

H 
P^ 

O 

PM 

X 



o ti 



'erage 

per 

mum. 




-t t^ 


IN 


-, o 


t^ 't O 00 


't 00 lO 




oo 


O 


J"fOMxOvO t-00 low ^0(000 
™)oo^iOiOroa;qNvO_OfOPOO 
CQ ^fw 0*iOrfo"'^OwlONw 
"(v, wOw(NO\ low w 


• a 


ro 




'. >o 


OS 


Ov 


< < 


. t^ 


o 

lO 






O^M^OO^tTO^OOoo 


• ■^■ 


00 


00 


~5 


Mo^OOviOwlowiOOvwt- 
^ CO ^ O t-; w_^ w q\ !N r; Ov C^ C\ 


■ 00 


lO 




0\ 


■ ro 


o_ 


vO 




pq lo ro o f^ IN N <N vd o' m" fo o" 


! IN 


o" 


00 




. t^ 


fO 


o 




cs 




lO 


M 




INOOOOO INO IN TfO ^O-O 


• o 


o 


P) 




^lOOO -OtOOO tloO I--0000 

j^ q. o\ o^ w_ CN_^ lo 00^ C\ IN o o t^ 


• lO 






0\ 




r- 


r^ 


*^ 


CQ O o' o' ro vO C^ ro ^ t^ w' fO 


'. lO 


fO 


O 




t-Hp, „Owww M w 






■^ 




" 




fO 






00 -to -toooo OOOOO "^iN 


(N 


o 


O 




g,^lcO 1-io>oroiN iOO<^'tCv 


OO 


^ 




OS 


■t 




q 


""* 


pq O w r-1 i^ M o, o' oo' 6 r^ m" go" 


<x 


oo" 


ri 




^ -rt wt-(NW0O row w 


00 


rO 






M 




O 


cs 




oinoooooo-nTmoomoo 




00 


•i" 


O 


g^'^OsiOOC i-vO t-iN O>00 -l-O 

rt '^ "^ t '^ °° ^. "2 <l t ". ^ T 


lO 


t^ 


00 


C\ 




IN 


0\ 

6 








lO 








^ 






CO •OOIN\OINO'-|-\000000<N 


't 


CO 


o 


o. 


«^ .r,t^t-PiOO>OiO.O^OC 

rt ^. . r- O t- 0> IN w_^ 0)_ 00_ lO w -1 


'O 


rO 


Oi 


o 


1- O 


o_ 


o 


PQio '\OOOCvr^l>t^\o"NiOw 


M 


oo' 


lO 




'-^rO. OwwO^ J>w 


a, 


'^ 


so 




• 




iO 






O •O(^'t0t00(SM -vO 


00 


P) 


M 


00 


W„ -(SroOlOI-t^rrio -Oi 
M oO__ ■ OO -t '"1 R ° t^ "^ ^ ■ O 

CO O ; ^0 "O 00 O O o" O vo" ■ w 


o 


0\ 


rl- 


o 




q 


C> 




'^M. lowwxo !/,«;« 


o 








■^ 




"* 






M -^OOOOOOOOINOO -Ol 


00 




•rt- 


r>. 


Mf^ ■^.lo~2oo_^-■ooc^ro -ro 

03 d ; O" oo" lO -o" O lO lO c> ■ o" 


o 


t 


CO 


o 

Ov 


00 


o' 


O 




'-^iN ,Mu,Mwo oow :w ; 


t^ 


lO 


t^ 




























>. 














>> 


O 












c 
a 














M 








lA 


















m C 


D 






i) 






aj 












'^ ^ ^ 


W 












O 




E 

3 

"3 


"C ^ OJ 

aJ p o 

D y 2 


> 


§ ^ 1 .s 

*J M 3 W 0) 

W D O 3 li: 




'a 

C 
03 


V 

'S 


3 




O 

.2 

3 




PQ 


m Q 


fe 




2 


< « 


P^ W 


u 


p 






rt 



116 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 



VALUE OF EXPORTS OF SUGAR-BEET SEED FROM 
GERMANY TO VARIOUS COUNTRIES, AND FROM 
RUSSIA INTO GERMANY 

From Auswartiger Handel, Statistik des Deutschen Reichs 



Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Denmark. ....... 

France 

Italy 

Netherlands 

Austria-Hungary . 

Roumania 

Russia in Europe. 

Sweden 

Servia 

Spain 

Canada 

United States. . . . 



Total 

Russia to Germany. 



Dollars 
192,780 



66,640 
403,172 

98,294 
107,338 
,215,942 

37,842 
526,456 
122,332 



112,098 



522, i 



3,405,780 
462,196 



1908 



Dollars 
140,420 

35,700 
329,868 
108,766 

95,438 
869,652 

35,462 
340,102 

85,204 

65.926 
416,262 



!, 522, 800 
340,102 



Dollars 
339,150 

72,590 

528,360 

104,006 

143,514 

1,680,756 

76,160 

785,638 

200,634 

27,846 

44,982 

11,900 

733,278 



4,748,814 
328.440 



[910 



Dollars 

391,272 

4,998 

108,052 

676.872 

114.478 

211,106 

,560,090 

69,258 

425,306 

170,646 

6,426 

69,020 

462,672 



4,270,196 
480.522 



1911 



Dollars 

456,960 

9,758 

105,910 

749,700 

223,958 

188,020 

2,647,274 

77,112 

418,404 

148,036 

19,278 

193.970 

727.566 



5,965,946 

1.140,258 



1912 



Dollars 
359,142 

ir.900 
118,048 
766,360 
154,700 
203,728 
1,529,864 

76,874 
307,972 

74.732 

11,900 
192,304 



751,12!: 



4,558,652 
2.960,006 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



117 



V.\LUE PER FOUND OF EXPORTS OF SUGAR-BEET 
SEED FROM GERMANY TO VARIOUS COUNTRIES, 
AND FROM RUSSIA INTO GERMANY 

From Auswartiger Handel, Statistik des Deutschen Reichs 



Belgium 

Bulgaria 

Denmark 

France 

Italy 

Netherlands 

Austria-Hungary . 

Roumania 

Russia in Europe 

Sweden 

Servia 

Spain 

Canada 

United .States. . . . 



Average 

Russia to German^ 



1907 


Cents 


pe 


rib. 


5 


96 


5 


63 


6 


25 


5 


79 


5 


78 


5 


34 


5 


84 


5 


56 


5 


74 


6 


24 


6 


25 


5 


71 


5 


61 



1908 



Cents 
per lb. 
4-75 



39 



40 



Cents 
per lb. 



8 


74 


9 


79 


7 


19 


8 


76 


6 


54 


7 


73 


9 


60 


9 


23 


10 


80 


9 


88 


7 


95 


7 


28 


7 


31 


8 


01 


4 


54 



I9IO 



Cents 
per lb. 
" 93 



I9II 


Cents 


per lb. 


8 


30 


7 


48 


7 


66 


8 


72 


9 


17 


8 


77 


8 


57 


8 


08 


9 


63 


7 


70 


6 


37 


9 


46 


7 


46 


8 


47 


4 


86 



1912 



Cents 
per lb. 
12.09 
10.95 
10.67 
ir.56 
10.63 
II. 14 
11.58 
17.64 
11-54 
8.83 
6.40 
13 13 



9.07 



11.07 
18.3s 



118 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 





c 






Cj 






t« 






o 










Q 


ci 




h-i 


CO 




O 


73 




^ 


'5 




w 


t^ 




g 






^ 


_C 




o 


in 






T3 




ro 


C 


O 


;z; 


O 


^ 
C 




o 

IN 


3 

o 


w 


of 


>-l 


p^ 


m 


rT: 


t— 1 









^ 


o 



P 
W 
W 
m 

H 

W 

w 

w 

pi 
< 

o 

Q ^ 

H c 

s § 

CO c 
W o 






73 
ci; 




ifi 


rt 


M-H 


Tl 


o 


rt 










73 


U 


•^ 




o 




a 









oc 


X 


r^ lo ON CO lo c 




oc 


ON -+■ lO 


0) 


• -^ 




•*-! 


i-H C) M ID lO t^ 04 On -t- O 00 O »0 • 


• CO 


• o 




o 


c)_Go_x_ ro M__ q_oq_vq_ -t '^ '-' "^^^ " 




ON 














of r^oo' i-C ro '^ rC c?^ of ^ fo <>r rC ; 


: CO 


o" 




r^\0 -tOrOfOCNi-''-i'-iC4 




r^ 


o 


pq 


C< '^ CN H-l 




04_ 




a>rOiOO ONO I^^>0 O lOO -1- 


Ol 


01 






M ►-! Th r^\0 coco i-H lo M o O lo • 


• t-t 


hH 




tn 


q_ c^ i--^ (N_ q; fl^_oo_oo. ^3q_ t--. «-«. • 


■ 00 


■^ 














In 


oo" o" cf^ -^ "-f o" oTvo" -t cf^ i-T oT ro ■ 


: CO 


CO 




^ 


O^OO Tt-«v£> 100)00 lO'^O i-i CO 




CO 




fOHHvooMOMi-i HH ; 




CO 






i-T w" 




»o 




(N '^ lO lOOO ^O '-I-IOGO lO ON lO 


O) 


04 




"4-1 


ID l-H O) HH I^ O ^ t^ '-' O t^ lO CO 


• •+ 






o 


(NiOiD0-^0 0)t^-1-<N0rO(N • 


■ ^. 


oo_^ 












^1 


^^OrOi-'lOt^'-iOOON'-iOCNr^ 


; CO 


CO 




t^ lOO 00 O ro rO '-I hh (n ; 




^ 


^ 


pq 


(N CO >-C HH 






g 








yS 




0) >-. CO CO^O O 1^00 CO O >0 O CO 


cT~ 


rf 






vO O) M CO lOvO lO t^ HH CN »0 O CN 


• ^o 


ID 




r/5 


•^^ ^^ "^ "^ ^> '~1°^> '"r "^ "t! ^ ® '"* ■ 


■ °> 


0) 




a; 










1- 


o" !-<" looo' CO CO t-^ of h-T Qsao CO or ' 


; \o 


CO 




< 


0) CO CO ON lO^O coco -Tj- '±■00 1-1 CO ; 




^O 




'i- 1-<_^ CO r^ lo M 1-1 




00^ 






l-H^ l-T 




^ 






0\ -^ VO^O -t- '^^ cOvO O 00 O) lO 


Ol 


'Tf 




•^-l 


O t^ -i- O 1^00 On CO O « w ^ o • 


■ CO 


00 




o 

r/1 "^ 


Olcoi^MCOOOON-tOOIiOO • 


■ q_ 














^1 


vo lo o »o o o) t^ r^co -t- lo 11 1^ ■ 


; CO 


-f 




^ CO lOOO O) CO 0) 1-1 i-i OJ 




ON 


00 


pq 


0) CO 11 1-1 ; 




o^ 


o 








I-T 




COCO'+i-i « 'q-OI CN lOlOiOOOO 


_ 


^ 






H^ hH lo J^ lO^O t^ r^vo r^ ON o 00 • 


• ON 


0) 




w5 


o^QC^ r^ ii_ r-; '-t- -h q_ q_ r--. « looo • 


• lO 


Tt- 




OJ 












-F rCoo'^"^ o >^ S 6^ t^ «" i-Too" d ' 


." CO 


i_r 




<< 


\0 t^OO n CO •+ n t^ cO^ 1-1 CO " 




00 




cooojoouoi-ii-i M ; 




^. 






h-T i-T 




rf 




• 


O lO Ol ON lO r^ lO lOvO OnvO nO 1-1 


CO 


On 






HH o cOnO 00 i^ 'd-oo O rh CO ON 01 • 


•vO 




'^ ^. ^ "t; '^ '1. '^ ^ "^ ^. ^^^ '^ • 


■ "^ 


01 






rC orco''oo'~oo'~ CO lo rCoo" oT co •-<' co ' 


'. CO 


-f 




vOlOOQOi-icOOlHH 0J0< 




i^ 


j^ 


0) ^ HH HH 






o 


■-^ 












•^ -^ r^ t->.vo coi^ioiooNcoo ijj 


vo 


~ 








00 04 1-1 ON-O 00 1-1 OnO OMO lO o • 


• Ol 


00 1 




wi 


•^ "^^ '^ "-^'^^ ^l "2 "^^ o. '^^ "* '^ ~f" • 


• 00 


!>. 1 




;-. 


O 01 O O 0) >0 CO t^ t^'Oo" of d \D ' 


; -f 


CO 
lO 




CI 

<! 


t^i-iOcooi-rhi-it^roaNOi-11-i 




CO 1-1 lOOO lO 1-1 1-1 1-1 








hH h- 




-p 












>> 


















s 


. w 
















03 


















o 


..0) 










s 




bJO 


















-a 


• 'v-1 












c 




m 












W) 


. -M 










Clj 




3 




^ 












G"" 


d c 










C CD ^ 




E 


cu > 


1'^ 


> 


-, o: 
o: 


O G 


c :3 
^"5 


3 






^ 


c 


f^ 


<^ 


PC 


^ 


cc 


c 


a: 




a 


P^ 


Pc 


lo 




1 



ITS HISTORY AND DEVELOPMENT 



119 



O 

o 

H 

w 

w 
1^ 

p 
w 
w 

H 

W 

w 

pi 
O 

C/2 



lOi-i rOONfOi-oO -hr^ri too fOr^rOM 

rO I^^O O O ONt^OO -O O "^ ON ON ^00 

^i.^~ ^ ^ '~L '^ ^ '^ fOiovo fO(Noo lOfD 
looo" rC H-T w" o" 4^^" r-^cxT ro cT i>i '^f 



O 00 CO ^ rO "^vO ^ lO fOO O lO lO 0^ O 
O t^l>.r^C|^^^'^ONfDON0) On>-i OncOcC 

o" t>^ o" lo ^f vtT oT o"vo" looo" cT ri" CO cT c^ 
00 11 ONvO rOrOiOt>.t>.D'1-i-ifO •-• 

lOror^OiOi-ii-i i-tp-c 



M On CO OnO 00 On rO '-' »n C) vjO OnOO 
i/-> ON CN ^ ir-^X O -i-'+rOO t^-l--^ 

^°°« lo CO q_ qsvq_ c|_ w^ r>. t^^^ q_ t>. 



O i-i VO ON '-hO ONHHVO r^rOO HH O 
OOO iOt^CN)(X) ONMOO OIvO iOOnO 

lO rovo" On rF CO o" rC C?^ •-<" o" '^ lO CO 
lO u^oo O O vO r>.vO t>. On CO HI c<3 

in cooc « lo HH M M 



OvO OnO n Theory O »OOn iOnO 
00 NO "0 r^oo i-H(N)ioi-i(NvooN'^ 
c7;oo <^^ c^ <:^ ^l_oo__ n^ o^no t^ cooo 

lo cnT ChNo" lO'^ONO'^ooc^c^^^ 
oooonrN)(Nicoco>-'*-<>-tCN« 



t^cOt^»Oi-i lOiOONiO>-< o o -t- 
r^ M t^ u^oo lOO icr^CNjNO c on 
00^ ci^nO^ r-N. ^co_^ "^^^ f^ '1. ^^ ^^ "^ 
CO t^ '^ o" lo o" lo i-h" t-T cf i-T CO 1^ 

1^ ^ ^ O lO uo CO t^vo 00 CO HH CO 

rj-ClONQlOf-ll-l HI 



rt J ^ d) ^ "^ s^ 



-WW 



rf 



" a^ o rt rt o c > 



Si's 

r^ C '^ N 

3 



.OP<<P^m2;c/2Gc^^opi;^c^c 



rr> 


rh 


00 


r>. 


Tt- 


lO 






-"^l- 


ON 




o 



00 


o 


NO 


"+ 


r^ 


ON 






ON 


ON 




o 




ON 



in H 



120 



SUGAR-BEET SEED 



FRANCE 

Sugar-beet Seed 
Excerpt from Die Deutsche Zuckerindustrie, Ap. 14, 1916, p. 41 



Imports. 


Exports. 


1916 


191S 


1914 


1913 


1916 


191S 


1914 


1913 


Bags 
20 


Bags 
44,400 


Bags 
93,800 


Bags 
86,020 


Bags 
900 


Bags 
5,580 


Bags 

49,720 


Bags 
30.420 



EXPORTS OF RUSSIAN SUGAR-BEET SEED INTO 
GERMANY, 1907 TO 1913 INCLUSIVE 



Years. 


Bags. 


U. S. Pounds. 


Total Value 
in Dollars. 


Value in 
Cents per lb. 


1907 


74,684 


8,232,417 


462,196 


S.61 


1908 


59,542 


6,563,315 


340,102 


5.18 


1909 


65,690 


7,241,009 


328,440 


4-54 


1910 


50,484 


5,564,851 


480,522 


8.63 


191 1 '■'■ 


212.950 


23,473,479 


1,140,258 


4.86 


1912 


146,322 


16,129,074 


2,960,006 


18.35 


1913 


208,658 


23,000,371 










Total 


818,330 


90,204,516 


5,711,524 




Average Value 


6.33 







* Severe drouth in Germany. 



EXPORTS OF RUSSIAN SUGAR-BEET SEED INTO 
AUSTRIA 



Year. 


Bags. 


Total Value 
in Dollars. 


U. S. Pounds. 


Value in 
Cents per lb. 


1909 


16,316 


87,346 


1,798,513 


4-86 



Russia. Excerpted from Auswdrtige Handel, Slalistik des Deutschen ReichSt 
Vol. 197, p. 18, for 1907 and 1908. Vol. 231, for 1909. p. 5 {20-b). 
For 1910, 1911. and 1912, Vol. 260, p. 8. 

For 1913, Month issue of Auswdrtige Handel, December, 1913. p. 12. 
Austria. Excerpted from Statisiik des Deutschen Recihs, issued in 1910, p. 5, 




UBRARY OF CONGRESS 

llllillll 

0D05t,fiS734A 



